Tiger’s R200m spend brings Mrs Ball’s home to the Western Cape

Tiger Brands has completed an investment of more than R200 million into its Paarl culinary mega-site, which has enabled the food producer to consolidate production of its iconic Mrs Ball’s chutney in the region where it was founded in 1917 (it started in Woodstock, Cape Town).

Until now, production has been outsourced to a third-party manufacturer in Gauteng.

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This would’ve made commercial sense at some point, but the dried stone fruit used in the chutney is grown near Ashton, little over 100km from the newly expanded factory.

(Langeberg Foods, which processes the fruit, was owned by Tiger Brands until it was sold in October 2025. Tiger first announced its intention to exit that business in 2020, and a solution was eventually found that enabled it to dispose of the unit for a symbolic R1. The move preserved more than 3 000 permanent and seasonal jobs.)

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The upgraded plant in Paarl has seen three production lines installed for Mrs Ball’s, which together output between 140 to 145 tonnes of chutney a day.

The Paarl site is a historic one for the group, having first opened in 1903.

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It is the origin of the All Gold tomato sauce and jam brand (and products) under H Jones & Co.

Celebrating – (from left): Paarl Culinary plant manager Roger Schierhout, Tiger Brands Culinary MD Dumo Mfini, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, Tiger Brands CEO Tjaart Kruger, and Tiger Brands chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer Werna Oberholzer. Image: Supplied

Biggest issue

This upgrade is the first to go live under the group’s structural investment plan introduced by CEO Tjaart Kruger, who joined in November 2023.

Kruger says the group’s capex averages R1.5 billion a year, with a peak of “about R2 billion” next year. This will fix a core problem in the business that he diagnosed shortly after taking over as CEO.

“The biggest issue we [will] have in five years is that we’ll [have] the best products that we can get, but be too expensive,” he warned the business internally.

These investments will make its manufacturing facilities more efficient, enabling the business to be more “competitive” on the shelf in the categories it plays in, and still generate returns for shareholders.

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When consumers walk into a store “they must look at our product and must look at the price” and choose the Tiger product, says Kruger.

In today’s environment, it would be tough to compete when one’s brands are at a premium of 30% or 40% to other options, including private labels or retailers’ own brands, he explains.

Under this plan, production is being consolidated with various projects underway at facilities including Boksburg in Gauteng (where it will add another vinegar plant to this culinary site, among other upgrades) and Mobeni in KwaZulu-Natal (snacks and treats).

More projects

It is also building a new R1 billion super bakery in Gauteng (set for commissioning in 2027), which will enable it to retire up to six smaller, ageing plants, and a ‘mega’ distribution centre in Gauteng will follow in 2028.

Along with the investment for Mrs Ball’s in Paarl, it has also built a dedicated vinegar production plant with capacity of three million litres per year (more than its current requirements in Paarl).

The group uses vinegar in various key products, including Mrs Ball’s chutney, All Gold tomato sauce and Crosse & Blackwell mayonnaise.

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Tiger says the “new plant secures a significant portion of the internal supply for these brands, eliminating complete dependency on external sources and ensuring stable production”.

Production was severely disrupted several years ago when its supplier was unable to provide the ingredient.

The third development at the site was the transition of its jam packaging from cans to recyclable PET (polyethylene terephthalate) containers. It is the first producer to make this shift in the jam category, and while it says this format is more convenient, it also offers obvious cost advantages.

Today, the plant is the manufacturing site for the All Gold and Hugo’s jam ranges, Mrs Ball’s chutney (and sweet chilli sauce), Colman’s mustard and Worcestershire sauce and its range of Crosse & Blackwell Kasi sauces.

Some of the jam varieties produced at Paarl are intended for export markets, including Europe. (The group’s tomato sauce and mayonnaise plant is based in Boksburg.)

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