The culmination of two major names in the micronutrient industry will allow South African farmers to acquire international-standard products at affordable prices, thanks to the opening of Brandt Africa, a new Brandt production facility in Brits in North West province.

Humble beginnings

Brandt has been helping farmers grow successful yields and stronger plants for more than 70 years. The company was started in 1953 by Glen Brandt and his sister, Evelyn Brandt Thomas.

What began as the pair helping neighbours in their hometown of Pleasant Plains, Illinois, has grown into an international company. Brandt comprises five manufacturing facilities in the USA, as well as one in Europe, one in Brazil, and, most recently, the opening of Brandt Africa.

Brandt is a family-founded company, with Rick Brandt carrying the legacy forward as its second-generation leader.

The same can be said for ELIM Fertilisers, which was founded 21 years ago by Izak Le Roux, director and CEO of ELIM Fertilisers, and his wife, Elmari.

Izak explains that an agronomist he was working with mentioned that Roundup has a yield-drag effect on corn; however, applying micronutrients ten to 15 days after glyphosate, can increase your yield.

The thought of finding a foliar feed that could be mixed with glyphosate intrigued him. After months of research, Izak came across Brandt, that had such a product in stock.

Brandt products will now be produced in South Africa.

Teaming up

He immediately phoned Brandt and flew to London to establish whether they could become the sole distributors of Brandt products in South Africa.

In 2011, ELIM started distributing Afrikelp and Brandt products. The company showed strong growth, and in 2017 everything changed for the better. Two more product ranges, Microlife and GreenLIQ, were added. In 2023, ELIM sold 4,3 million litres of product, with the aim of reaching the 4,7 million-litre mark by 2026.

“We’ve been part of the Brandt family for the last thirteen and a half years, and what a journey and privilege it has been to distribute these wonderful products that are so uniquely manufactured.

“It really is the best when it comes to foliar nutrition, efficacy, and compatibility in the world. We’ve established it as the market leader in South Africa for its quality and compatibility,”  Izak says proudly.

Izak Le Roux, director and CEO of ELIM Fertilisers, at the opening of Brandt Africa.

Opening Brandt South Africa

With ELIM  the official distributor of Brandt products in South Africa, Izak wanted to go even further, and approximately three years ago, he approached Rick and his team about opening Brandt Africa.

“Manufacturing Brandt products in South Africa will put our growers in a much better position; there will be a lot of cost savings,” Izak explains.

The first step was to get the Homeland production unit from America to South Africa .

“We started with the production of Homeland in 2025, as well as the Smart range and the Manni-Plex products.”

ELIM has also already broken ground on a new 3 000 m² facility where they will not only store all the products they produce, but they’ll also produce the entire Brandt range in South Africa. This facility is scheduled to open in 2026

“Bringing Brandt production to Africa is a remarkable achievement for us. We already expanded into Brazil in 2015 and Europe in 2016, and it has always been my dream to come to Africa. To see this come to fruition is definitely an incredible experience,” says Rick, President and CEO of Brandt and CEO of TradeMark Nitrogen.

Rick believes his father would have been proud of what Brandt, both as a family and a company, has achieved.

“What a privilege it is to be part of this family, and what a privilege it is to be part of this winning team. We look forward to continuing to produce the best quality micronutrient range, the Brandt range, and making that available at a fantastic price to all our growers,” Izak adds.

If you’re interested in how ELIM and Brandt can boost your yield, visit the ELIM website at www.elimfertiliser.co.za