About The Original Grain Company
A South African agricultural trading and production company, founded in Cape Town in 2016. We source, grow, mill and move maize and soybeans across the region, as the owner of the product rather than an agent.
The Original Grain Company (Pty) Ltd was founded in Cape Town in 2016 by Ryan New. It sources, grows, mills and transports white and yellow maize, maize meal and soybeans, operating as the owner of the product rather than as an agent. The company has offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Gaborone, Harare and Dar es Salaam, farms through partners in the Vrede district of the Free State, and supplies maize meal into the Democratic Republic of Congo via Kasumbalesa.
Our story
- 2016Founded in Cape Town by Ryan New with a broad commodity book.
- 2025Narrowed to two core crops: maize and soybeans, sourced, owned or grown directly.
- 2022/23Advanced Agricultural Product Purchasing (AAPP) launched around Vrede with farming partner Konrad Mandig, on 200 ha in the first season.
- 2022/23DRC maize meal channel opened, milling in Hammanskraal and delivering to Kasumbalesa.
- 2023Dihlabeng project: 50 ha of unused municipal land at Clarens prepared and planted to wheat with the local community.
- 2025The Original Grain Fund formed as the investment channel for AAPP.
- 2026Mcambalala Maize Project, Eastern Cape: 50 ha, 70 farmers, with Impala Platinum and Ntshwanti Consulting.
- 2026The Original Grain NPC registered (2025/266332/08) to channel CSI and grant funding into community livelihood projects.
Why we own the product
Most grain changes hands through agents and brokers, each adding a margin and a layer between the farmer and the buyer. We buy the crop, or grow it ourselves, and sell it as the owner.
Three margins in the price, nobody accountable for the whole load, and a price that changes hands at every step.
One margin, one contract, one company responsible for quality and delivery from the field to your gate. Pricing off SAFEX, in the open.
What we commit to
Three arms, one value chain
The Original Grain Company: trading, procurement, logistics and market access.
The Original Grain Fund: a ring-fenced investment route into the AAPP white maize programme.
The Original Grain NPC: CSI and grant funding for livelihood projects in poor and needy communities.
Leadership
Ryan New, Managing Director and founder; Chief Operating Officer and director of The Original Grain Fund.
Konrad Mandig, farming partner, Shamrock Boerdery, Vrede. Farming in the eastern Free State since 2012; maize, soybeans and cattle, with full-cycle contracting from land preparation to harvest.
Megan Wadge, Programme and Operations Director and director, The Original Grain NPC. A non-profit leader who turns investment and ideas into well-run programmes, stronger systems and lasting impact.
Chris Mavrokordatis, Chief Executive Officer and director, The Original Grain Fund; director, The Original Grain NPC.
Massimo D'Alessio, retail: maize meal and sugar.
Nicole Pappalardo, sales representative, retail, Johannesburg region.
Michael Smyth, director, The Original Grain NPC.
Common questions
Who owns The Original Grain Company?
Ryan New, who founded the company in 2016 and is its managing director and sole shareholder.
Where are your offices?
Head office is in Tokai, Cape Town. Johannesburg, Gaborone, Harare and Dar es Salaam are served through our own people and logistics partners in each region; in East Africa we work with Admeon Logistics.
What is the difference between the Company, the Fund and the NPC?
The Company trades and delivers grain. The Fund raises and deploys investor capital into AAPP production. The NPC channels CSI and grant funding into emerging-farmer projects that the Company then buys from.
Which regions do you farm in?
The Vrede district of the Free State under AAPP, Clarens (Dihlabeng) and the Mcambalala community in the Eastern Cape through partner projects.
Work with a principal, not an agent
We own the product we sell, so you deal with one company from farm to delivery.
- 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