Company Portfolio - Lluvia Group

Lluvia Sugar

Lluvia Sugar Distributors was founded in 2012 and distributes in excess of 100 000 MT of sugar per annum with its head office in Cape Town, South Africa. The group distributes a wide variety of sugar and sugar related products.

Lluvia has serviced all sized businesses, but focuses on the medium to small tier customers aiming to achieve sustainable margins by adding value to the chain and provides tailor made solutions to each customers requirements in various industries including but not limited to general foodstuffs, confectionary and beverages.

The company’s historical ability to innovate by identifying sustainable markets and value added services, coupled with expanding its Southern African footprint has provided a growing and stable platform for the business to achieve its growth ambitions.

Lluvia participates in the SACU, SADC and COMESA countries whether it be procuring or marketing locally sourced or imported products from abroad. These relationships are integral to providing long-term sustainability to the business as it gives Lluvia the ability to procure sugar efficiently in any market condition. This is an extremely significant and key differentiator from the other trading and distribution businesses in the market.

Lluvia plays a key role in the supply chain for African producers of sugar who have duty free quota access into South Africa albeit limited. The African producers don’t have sales and distribution teams in South Africa and hence the smart partnerships between the producers and Lluvia.

The competitive advantage for Lluvia lies in its understanding of duties, trade preferences and logistics differentials making sure that sugar is procured cost-effectively. The business has a well-established route to market and its own in-house sales team, logistics department and fleet of vehicles to service the market.

Lluvia has added rice to its basket of goods and has been selected by Olam, a global producer of rice, to exclusively distribute in South Africa on their behalf in a joint venture.

Best Choice

Best Choice brand has become an established sugar brand in the wholesale and informal trade and creates value in the down packaging process.

The growing brand is primed to diversify into Rice and other dry commodities as the manufacturing plant, food safety certifications, logistics, and well established client book is in place and geared to be leveraged against. The group has the ambition to replicate the Best Choice model and brand across Southern Africa and capitalism on the multiple opportunities to make local investments down the value chain.

Namibia

Lluvia down packs and distributes sugar in Namibia and Botswana, both countries do not produce sugar and are reliant on imports to service the market.

The group set up the Namibian operation to service both the industrial market as well as penetrate the wholesale retail market in Namibia with the Best Choice brand.

Lluvia also sells rice into the same informal market as well as sauces from its Afoodable business. Luvia’s Namibian business continues to gain significant market share in both segments and has cemented its position as one of the three largest sugar distributors in the country.

Lluvia could become a major regional player in supplying sugar to the Namibian, Botswana, Rwanda and Southern DRC markets.

Lluvia Namibia also distributes Umoja beer powder, Sauce-on-Tap and Beta-vite Sorghum. Lluvia Namibia will diversify its operation to start distributing rice and peanut butter in Namibia and Botswana soon.

Lluvia International

Lluvia International was established in May 2018 as the international trading division of the group with extensive experience in the COMESA, SADC and EU sugar flows. The business has a head office in Mauritius and the main objective of this entity is to trade in preferential and specialty sugars where there are strategic allocations under quota and bilateral country agreements. The trades require specific knowledge in domestic markets and typically provide higher returns due to the benefit of group quotas from desired origins.

Lluvia also procures large volumes of sugar from Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Mauritius which it sells into the South African market.

The company has plans to extend its operations into a small packaging facility in the UK to capitalise on the agency agreements it currently carries for speciality sugars as well as the opportunity to supply the under-serviced UK and European markets.

Natures Packers

Natures Packers opened their Montague Gardens doors in 2011 as a preferred pre-packer of sugar in sizes ranging from just 5 grams to as much as 50 kilograms and an offering that includes castor and icing sugar.

Convenience, user-friendliness, value, and variety all play vital roles in our product development. The aim is to provide a bespoke packaging solution to service everything from private homes to restaurants and industrial clients.

Nature’s Packers complies with the Food Safety Certifications of the FSSC and are proudly Halaal and Kosher certified, which means that all South Africans can enjoy the full product offering. It has cemented in place in the Southern African market as a supplier of niche sugar and related products.

Afoodable

Afoodable, established in 1990, is a leading condiment manufacturer of customised speciality sauces and marinades for the local and export markets. It is situated in the Food Production industrial area of Montague Gardens in Cape Town.

The company produces an extensive range of its own unbranded products for the catering and butchery markets as well as acting as a manufacturer and contract packer for industrial and retail clients to service their private label and house brands. Afoodable also produces an extensive selection of ethnic products for a group of local and international exporters.

All products prepared by Afoodable are made to set formulations or recipes formulated by its innovative product development team or set by customers’ recipes. The use of both fresh and natural ingredients supports its versatility in producing products for any market. The responsibility for food safety and quality is seen as an integral duty of every employee at Afoodable and is controlled by an internal lab with qualified food technologists. Their Procert audited Food Safety System was first implemented in 2018 and is annually updated.

Versatile production equipment includes cooking vessels and cold emulsifiers and mixers for the preparation of specific sauces. Various fillers lines are available depending on the products with inline finishing and shrink and adhesion labelling also provided.

Afoodable is an approved Halaal (Muslim Judicial Council and SANHA) and Beth Din Kosher (Parev) manufacturer.

Afoodable producers for several large retailers and well-known brands in Southern Africa. The competitive advantage of Afoodable lies in its technical know-how and strict adherence to quality. Afoodable also owns a retail arm to drive sales for the business and ensure that the factory capacity remains optimized.

Lluvia Nutrition

Lluvia Nutrition originated with a mission of alleviating world hunger. Providing nutritional products (Lipid-based Nutrient Supplement–Medium Quantity (“LNS-MQ”) for use by institutions caring for malnourished individuals and people with HIV/Aids. Later, Lluvia Nutrition entered the therapeutic food market and became a supplier of therapeutic foodstuffs to international and local Aids organisations such as the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (“UNICEF”) and World Food Program (WFP) in programmatic countries. Lluvia Nutrition produces therapeutic foods enriched with protein, essential vitamins, minerals, energy and essential fatty acids. The products are used in the treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition and for a wide spectrum of patients and disease conditions.

The impact of their therapeutic foods has increased exponentially over the last decade with each carton of food produced being enough to feed one child for one month – sufficient to save a life. Lluvia Nutrition operates from a uniquely designed production facility in Cape Town and the layout covers a combined area in excess of 10 000 m² and is well situated to take advantage of the Cape Town harbour, to get food aid products shipped and delivered in emergency situations.

Today, Lluvia Nutrition is a significant supplier of specialised foods to both the local and international marketplace. The business distributes its products globally, through various international, multi-national, and local aid organisations and NGOs. The World Health Organisation deems Lluvia Nutrition as a strategic partner in fighting malnutrition and is one of the 5 largest producers of therapeutic foods globally and the only major producer in Africa. Approximately 90% of the product produced is exported.

Lluvia Nutrition’s Food Safety Management System guarantees a consistent safe food supply under hygienic conditions. We comply with all relevant South African legislation and approved codes of best practice. A testimony to our commitment to the quality and traceability of all our products.a testimony to our commitment to the quality and traceability of all our products. Lluvia Nutrition is regularly inspected for quality by UNICEF, WFP and MSF and other international aid organisations as the need arises.

The production facility is near the port and drives efficient and low-cost logistics. Lluvia at its core has a strong trading focus and the raw materials procured for Lluvia Nutrition are purchased globally, and with Lluvia’s in-house expertise in sugar trading, complements the manufacturing business.

Classic Namdeli

Classic Namibian Delicatessen supplies top quality beef, lamb, pork, game and chicken mostly from Namibia, harvested in the Savanna woodlands as well as South Africa, that can be traced back all the way to its farm of origin.

Their knowledgeable team perfected the preparation of their products utilizing a completely natural drying process as well as the natural smoking process of cattle and game products are concerned. This process as well as the origin of meat creates a unique offering.

The Namibian Savanna woodland eco-region covers the narrow escarpment belt that lies inland of the Namib and Kaokoveld Deserts and broadens gradually towards the south, where it comprises extensive areas on the plateau south of Windhoek. It is characterized by a grassy ground layer and a distinct upper layer of woody plants. Most of the Savanna vegetation types are used for grazing, mainly by cattle or game. Large mammal species found within the ecoregion are kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros LR), springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis LR), gemsbok (Oryx gazella LR), Damara dik-diks (Madoqua kirkii), and black-faced impala (Aepyceros melampus petersi VU).

The shareholders of Classic Namdeli, are all Namibians. Their co-founder team is experienced in the relevant industries. Their broad backgrounds cover finance, international trading commodities and the food industry. Having been in the industry for over 35 years, invaluable experience has been accumulated.

The butchery is situated in Stikland Industrial Bellville and has a successful commercial online ordering platform. In March 2020 expanded its online delivery offering to the Uber Eats online ordering platform. Thereafter, they’ve proactively shifted their focus to become more retail-orientated with the strategic acquisition of Dessert Meat to complement their existing business structure and future growth ambitions.

Lluvia Alcohols

Lluvia Alcohols (Pty) Ltd is a subsidiary of the Lluvia Group that sources and distributes a variety of high-quality alcohols produced from various agricultural raw materials such as sugarcane molasses, corn (maize) and grapes (wine). The alcohols are sourced from various well-renowned distilleries and distributed directly to the African and international customers. Lluvia Alcohols distributes to the following manufacturing industries in the African and international markets:

Black Pearl RMI

Through strategic decision making and continuous investment in the business, Black Pearl RMI strive to be a leading Project Management Company that has the ability to operate in diverse industries and delivering a wide range of specialized services.

Our aim is to remain active in the agricultural commodity and food manufacturing salvage environment while expanding our hold in the chemical industry by launching some exciting projects in association with key partnerships with the leading importers and distributors of caustic soda products.

Logistico

With the view that logistics will continue to be a critical component to any supply chain business, coupled with the fact that the group’s largest single expense is freight, Logistico was formed to service the internal logistics demand. There was additional opportunity to leverage of the groups existing fleet and warehousing services to extend the offering to strategic external clients, including local sugar producers. With the volume of imported bulk commodities by the Group from international as well as Southern African origins, the ambition is to employ the skills of clearing agents in order to offer all a full clearing service.

Lluvia Food Ingredients

Lluvia Food Ingredients (LFI) imports and distributes a wide variety of specialized food-grade commodities including Whey powder, Milk powders, Potassium Chloride and Wheat Gluten to the food manufacturing industries in South Africa and abroad. Products are sourced globally, warehoused and distributed from Cape Town and cover all of the major centres in South Africa.

LFI has a Cape Town-based food grade (HACCP) blending facility where specialized blends are combined to manufacture products for distribution in the dairy, beverage and confectionary markets. LFI research and develops tailor-made solutions that enhances product quality and reduced overhead costs to customers.