The farmer plants and harvests peanuts with great effort and care, but peanut production still needs more to make its destination in the market. This is where the peanut processing experts, Triotrade steps in to clean, shell, sort, and market the peanuts.

Triotrade has peanut processing plants in Schweizer-Reneke (North West province), Bela-Bela (Limpopo province), and recent new addition in Hoopstad (Free State province), along with a warehouse in Pretoria and production areas in the Northern Cape and Namibia.

Triotrade Gauteng PTY Limited

Established in 1996 following the dissolution of the National Oil Seeds Board, Triotrade boasts an astounding 28 years of experience in the industry. The main peanut processing plant is located on the outskirts of Schweizer-Reneke in South Africa’s North-West Province. This facility plays a crucial role in delivering higher-quality peanuts to both local and international customers. The plant specialises in Spanish-type, round-shaped peanuts, which are particularly popular in markets such as Japan and Europe.

Triotrade Schweizer-Reneke has a processing capacity of +/- 15 000 tonnes of peanuts. The peanuts are processed for the export market and also for local peanut butter and confectionery manufacturers such as RCL Foods, Tiger Brands and Pepsi Co. State-of-the-art processing equipment and sorting machines imported from America are used to ensure superior product quality and efficient processing.

This plant features a modern drying facility that reduces aflatoxin risks associated with peanuts.

Wessel Higgs, the CEO of Triotrade, explained the process of the peanut processing plant. The foundation of this business is the farmer who produces peanuts (without the farmer, there will be no peanuts).

Triotrade is very particular with the type of peanut they process. They supply their seed cultivars to the farmer with a sale and repurchase agreement for when the peanuts are harvested, which entails the purchase of the whole harvest, not just a fraction of it.

This encourages the farmer to take special care of the crop to achieve high yields and ensure good profitability.

The agreement has a minimum guaranteed price which gives the farmer a financial guideline to work from prior planting. Once the peanuts are harvested, they are delivered to the different facilities so that the processing can begin.

Wessel says that there are seasons where there is a shortage of peanuts due to environmental and unforeseen circumstances. In such an event, Triotrade will import peanuts from Brazil or Argentina.

High temperatures stall the peanut growth process, which restricts the yield of the farmer and also the quality of peanuts delivered to the factory. The more product you have, the lower the processing cost. The goal is to always have enough product for the customers that buys from Triotrade.

Hoopstad peanut processing plant

With many successful years in business, Triotrade is expanding its facilities and recently bought an existing peanut processing plant at Hoopstad in the Free State. Wessel says there is always a drive to grow in the business. The plant in Hoopstad is similar to the plant in Schweizer-Reneke, and operating to full capacity for approximately six weeks during harvest time, where a minimum of six thousand tonnes of peanuts are received. This business expansion opens the opportunity to process more peanuts, and thereby increase the supply for national and international clients.

For Wessel, the heart of the business is long-term client relations with peanut farmers and clients (local and international). It is important to understand clients’ needs, to know exactly what they are looking for with regard to the peanut shape, size and taste so that their needs can be met, says Wessel.

Triotrade’s vision will continue growing new cultivars to expand their business as needed.

For more information, contact Triotrade at (+27)12-803-9336.