South African maize and soybeans, delivered across the continent
From Free State soil to markets across Africa
We buy, grow and move white maize, yellow maize, maize meal and soybeans, and deliver them by road to buyers from Cape Town to the Copperbelt. We also supply white and brown sugar, from 1 kg consumer packs to 1 t bulk. We own the product we sell, so you deal with one counterparty from farm to delivery.
Who we work with
Farmers and landowners
We fund your inputs at planting and guarantee to buy the crop at harvest.
How AAPP worksBuyers
Kernels, 25 kg meal and soybeans, priced off SAFEX and delivered to your site or border.
See what we supplyInvestors
The Original Grain Fund puts capital into insured hectares for one crop cycle.
The FundCSI and grant funders
The Original Grain NPC turns social investment into cooperatives with a signed buyer before the first seed goes in.
The NPCTen years, in numbers
A trading book that narrowed to two crops, a farming programme that keeps growing, and a border channel that has run for three seasons.
1,260bags per super link25 kg maize meal, three super links per convoy, ten days to Kasumbalesa
2016Founded in Cape Town by Ryan New
5Offices across Southern and East Africa
4seasonsAAPP at Vrede, from 200 ha in 2022/23 to just over 2,000 ha planned this season Projected
70farmersIn the Mcambalala cooperative on 50 ha
5,000haAAPP footprint target Projected
2cropsWhite maize and soybeans, priced off SAFEX
3armsThe Company, the Fund and the NPC
How we work
Source or grow
We buy from partner farms in the Free State and grow under our own AAPP programme around Vrede.
Mill, bag or load
Kernels move in bulk. Maize meal is milled under licence in Hammanskraal and bagged in 25 kg units.
Deliver by road or sea
Super link convoys to SADC borders, sea freight for larger parcels, one contract and one point of accountability.
The DRC corridor
Three years, one supply chain, end to end
Our own white maize, milled in Hammanskraal, bagged at 25 kg and driven in convoys of three super links to buyers at the Kasumbalesa border. About ten days door to border.
Maize meal and exportAgriculture, when properly supported, becomes a driver of both food security and economic empowerment.Ryan New, Managing Director, on the Mcambalala Maize Project
Three arms, one value chain
Capital, capability and market access sit in three entities that work as one system: money goes into hectares, hectares become a crop, and the crop has a buyer before it is planted.
Trades and delivers
The Original Grain Company
Sources, grows, mills and moves maize and soybeans, and is the guaranteed buyer for every project the group runs.
About the Company
Invests
The Original Grain Fund
A ring-fenced route for investor capital into insured white maize production for one crop cycle at a time.
The Fund
Builds livelihoods
The Original Grain NPC
Applies CSI and grant funding in poor and needy communities, supporting people who are working to empower themselves, with a buyer signed before a project starts.
The NPCCapitalthe Fund pays for the season
Capabilitythe NPC readies the community
Market accessthe Company buys and sells the crop
Common questions
What does The Original Grain Company supply?
White maize kernels, yellow maize kernels, 25 kg white maize meal and soybeans, in bulk or bagged, to buyers in South Africa and the SADC region.
Which countries do you deliver to?
South Africa nationwide by road, with ex-port sales out of Durban. By road into Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, the DRC (Kasumbalesa), Tanzania, Rwanda, Namibia and Angola.
Do you act as an agent or a principal?
As a principal. We own or grow the product we sell, which removes intermediaries from pricing and gives buyers one accountable counterparty.
Is your maize GMO or non-GMO?
About 80% of South Africa’s maize crop is GMO. We supply standard GMO maize. Certified non-GMO lots are costly and hard to move, so we do not offer them as a standard product.
How is your pricing set?
Off the relevant SAFEX contract (white or yellow maize, soybeans) plus logistics to your delivery point. We trade spot and on monthly rolling contracts.
Tell us what you need
Buyer, farmer, investor or funder: one message, routed to the right person.
- Reply within two working days, from a person, not a bot
- Priced off SAFEX, delivered to your site or the border
- One counterparty from farm to delivery
Prefer email? info@theoriginalgraincompany.co.za