Organic Growth For Free-Range Farmer

Jeanne Groenewald went from producing free-range chicken for her family to becoming a Woolworths supplier. She is not only passionate about the welfare of the birds she raises, but also strives to uplift her employees and the community of Grabouw in where her business is located.

- Jon Pienaar

If you buy free-range chicken from Woolworths, there’s a good chance you’ll be buying a bird that has been reared by Jeanne Groenewald, of Elgin Free Range Chickens, situated in Grabouw in the lush green Elgin valley. Groenewald first started raising chickens in 1996 because she wanted to feed her family nutritious fowl that was truly free-range and completely free of antibiotics or growth promoters.

When friends and family tasted Groenewald’s chickens and learnt that the birds were drug-free, stress-free, and free of animal by-products, they wanted to buy more poultry. Word got around, and by 2002 a state-of-the-art abattoir was set up in Grabouw. Seven years later, the farm was producing 48 000 chickens per week, and Groenewald was named the Top Producer for National Markets in the National Female Farmer of the Year Awards.

Today Elgin Free Range Chickens is the largest independent free-range-chicken operation in South Africa, producing over 100 000 birds per week.

What did you do prior to starting your own business?