Company Reports - Kiepersol Poultry Farm (Pty) Ltd
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Kiepersol Poultry Farm (Pty) Ltd
A Family in Poultry
Written by Chris Farnell & Produced by John Holliman
Kiepersol Poultry Farm (Pty) Ltd was founded in 1966 by Sophia Maria du Plessis and her two sons, Johan and Adri du Plessis, registering it in 1970. Three generations later and the company is still going strong, and is still being run by the du Plessis family.
What started off as a small family farm has seen vast growth, with Kiepersol currently enjoying a production capacity of 360,000 commercial laying hens, and 60,000 free range laying hens. These hens are held to extremely high standards. As well as buying chicks at a day old from approved suppliers, Kiepersol also raises its own chickens until they are able to lay, when they are transferred to laying facilities. Every stage of production, from grading and packaging right up to the distribution of the final product to the customers, is overseen by Kiepersol.
This has led to Kiepersol being built up into an established brand over years, partly because of its willingness to adapt according to change. Kiepersol prides itself on its ability to deliver a high quality product, satisfying the customer’s needs and complying with their specifications and audits. It conducts its business in a friendly and efficient manner and is committed to food safety. “We pride ourselves on our business ethics and emphasise family values and hard work,” says Managing Director Rynders Marais.
Like many industries, the poultry industry has suffered from a shortage in skilled workers. Marais explains: “The lack of education in our industry is due to the level of education of most of the employees. The majority of employees are illiterate and most of the courses are presented in English, and you have to be able to read and write.”
Kiepersol has done everything it can to combat the skill shortage. “We implement in-house job specific training based on our standard operating procedures and validate the efficiency through verbal questionnaires,” Marais says. “We have recently started to implement this system and make use of translators where necessary.”
It’s an effective system appreciated by the staff. Kiepersol boasts a low staff turnover which Marais credits to the company’s excellent human relations and mutual loyalty between staff and company.
As well as making sure its staff is trained to the highest possible standards, Kiepersol is also keen to keep its equipment at maximum efficiency. “We improve the efficiency of our plants by implementing preventative maintenance and by upgrading systems, machinery and procedures where possible,” Marais says.
He goes onto explain that the company constantly evaluates new technology and trends. It has had existing broiler houses converted into laying houses, with manure belts installed so that Kiepersol wouldn’t have to alter the current structure. “The advantages of manure belts are that you can easily; frequently empty the manure from the houses preventing ammoniac built up and disease outbreak,” Marais says. “Manure in a deep pit system also attracts rodents and flies.
“We have also changed all our lighting to energy saving lights,” Marais continues. “We have investigated wind turbine energy for a new distribution site we are planning but currently it is still too expensive and there is not enough sustainable wind at the planned location.”
However, Kiepersol will continue to investigate alternatives for generating electricity as the company sees this as a valuable element in any future developments. Those future developments naturally depends on the growth of the egg market, which was hurt badly by the recession. But Kiepersol is ready to expand when the demand for eggs grows.
What started off as a small family farm has seen vast growth, with Kiepersol currently enjoying a production capacity of 360,000 commercial laying hens, and 60,000 free range laying hens. These hens are held to extremely high standards. As well as buying chicks at a day old from approved suppliers, Kiepersol also raises its own chickens until they are able to lay, when they are transferred to laying facilities. Every stage of production, from grading and packaging right up to the distribution of the final product to the customers, is overseen by Kiepersol.
This has led to Kiepersol being built up into an established brand over years, partly because of its willingness to adapt according to change. Kiepersol prides itself on its ability to deliver a high quality product, satisfying the customer’s needs and complying with their specifications and audits. It conducts its business in a friendly and efficient manner and is committed to food safety. “We pride ourselves on our business ethics and emphasise family values and hard work,” says Managing Director Rynders Marais.
Like many industries, the poultry industry has suffered from a shortage in skilled workers. Marais explains: “The lack of education in our industry is due to the level of education of most of the employees. The majority of employees are illiterate and most of the courses are presented in English, and you have to be able to read and write.”
Kiepersol has done everything it can to combat the skill shortage. “We implement in-house job specific training based on our standard operating procedures and validate the efficiency through verbal questionnaires,” Marais says. “We have recently started to implement this system and make use of translators where necessary.”
It’s an effective system appreciated by the staff. Kiepersol boasts a low staff turnover which Marais credits to the company’s excellent human relations and mutual loyalty between staff and company.
As well as making sure its staff is trained to the highest possible standards, Kiepersol is also keen to keep its equipment at maximum efficiency. “We improve the efficiency of our plants by implementing preventative maintenance and by upgrading systems, machinery and procedures where possible,” Marais says.
He goes onto explain that the company constantly evaluates new technology and trends. It has had existing broiler houses converted into laying houses, with manure belts installed so that Kiepersol wouldn’t have to alter the current structure. “The advantages of manure belts are that you can easily; frequently empty the manure from the houses preventing ammoniac built up and disease outbreak,” Marais says. “Manure in a deep pit system also attracts rodents and flies.
“We have also changed all our lighting to energy saving lights,” Marais continues. “We have investigated wind turbine energy for a new distribution site we are planning but currently it is still too expensive and there is not enough sustainable wind at the planned location.”
However, Kiepersol will continue to investigate alternatives for generating electricity as the company sees this as a valuable element in any future developments. Those future developments naturally depends on the growth of the egg market, which was hurt badly by the recession. But Kiepersol is ready to expand when the demand for eggs grows.
