The Coega Dairy is on a trailblazing award-winning streak after it was presented with yet another prestigious award at the Annual Inaugural South Africa Premier Business Awards ceremony held in Sandton last week.
The best South African businesses in various sectors and categories were awarded at this event hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Coega Dairy walked away as the winner of the Quality Award.
The awards were held in partnership with Proudly South African and Brand South Africa and aim to recognise South African companies that invest in human and technical resources, stimulate local job creation and participate in the broader economy.
“This award is a valuable acknowledgement to Coega Dairy because it gives us recognition for implementing world class quality principles in our business, which translates into broader benefits to the company and our consumers,” said chief executive of Coega Dairy, Dr Hennie Kleynhans.
“This award is a wonderful accolade and pays tribute to all employees, shareholders, and producers of Coega Dairy.”
The awards comprised of 13 categories, including the: Exporter Award; Media Award; Quality Award; Technology Award; Green Award; Most Empowered Enterprise Award; Rural Development Award; Women-Owned Enterprise Award; Manufacturer Award; Proudly South African Enterprise Award; SMME Award, Young Entrepreneur Award, as well as an Investor Award.
The Quality Award recognises the efforts of South African businesses who strive for quality through their business activities. The award is also a motivation for companies to promote economic growth and apply business practices to offer products and services of the highest quality.
Coega Dairy, the first environmentally friendly dairy in the Southern hemisphere, was also a finalist in the Green Award category. Top South African companies participated in all categories.
The Coega Development Corporation (CDC), which manages the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) in which the dairy is situated, said that it continues to remain one of the “golden children of the IDZ”.
“We have watched with pride as the Coega Dairy grows from strength to strength. It’s like having an overachieving child, one never tires of the growing accolades,” said Ayanda Vilakazi, CDC spokesperson. “Coega Dairy has managed to strike a winning formula and approach to its work and it speaks volumes of the calibre of investor we have attracted to the Coega IDZ.
“We implore them to continue to maintain their extremely high standards and endeavour to reach higher as they claim their space as one of the top dairies in the country.”
Submissions for the awards closed in mid-February and a total of 159 entries were received while a 12 member judging panel comprising of various role players from business, labour and the DTI, among others, were responsible for selecting the winners. The adjudication process was concluded in March.
The award celebrates companies who have pro-actively implemented quality principles at all levels. A number of minimum technical requirements were set, which included: Quality Management System (ISO 9001, HACCP, ISO 14001, ISO 22000, OHSAS 18001); a valid product, system or verification certificate; participation in the development of standards; and usage of standards in product development.
This brings the number of accolades extended to Coega Dairy for the 2012/13 financial year to three. In addition the Dairy has won a number of other prominent awards, namely the prestigious Shoprite Supplier of the Year Award in the Housebrand/Private Labels category for 2012, and the first dairy company in South Africa to receive the FSSC (Food Safety System Certification) 22000 certification.
Alan Straton
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