At a time when most businesses are scaling down, the Beefmaster Group has rewarded staff with special Covid-19 bonuses to thank them for “sharing the pain” brought on by the pandemic.
In an interview with the Farmer’s Inside Track podcast, Beefmaster CEO Louw van Reenen says, “Although we were lucky enough to be classified as an essential service at the height of the lockdown restrictions, we made the conscious decision to focus on the health and wellbeing of our people, our number one asset.”
Van Reenen tells podcast hosts Dawn Noemdoe and Duncan Masiwa that instead of “pulling back on investing in our people and our operations, we are full steam ahead in implementing our plans to upgrade so that we are ready to deliver when the economy turns around.”
Beefmaster supplies beef products throughout Southern Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. In the podcast, Van Reenen also shares valuable tips for farmers and agripreneurs on the benefits of employee rewards and recognition programmes.
Other podcast highlights
Besides the podcast interview with Van Reenen, this week’s Farmer’s Inside Track also has other highlights for the agricultural sector:
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Level up: We speak to Uzair Essack about the dynamics of exporting fresh produce to global markets. Ugandan farmer Emma Naluyima perfected the art of integrated farming.
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Book of the week: Food For Mzansi fans chose Crush it! Why now is the time to cash in on your passion by Gary Vaynerchuk as their book of the week. We loved reading it because it taught us how to use the power of the Internet to turn real interests into real businesses.
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App of the week: We catch up with Karidas Tshintsholo, co-founder of the Khula App connecting small-holder farmers to markets in Mzansi.
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Farmer’s tip of the week: Hydroponics farmer Byron Booysen believes diversifying your agricultural activities is key.
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Mzansi Flavour: Chef Lufuno “Funi” Sinthumule loves South African cuisine, although he feels that it is still rather underrated. His traditional deep-fried tripe served with salt, pepper and lemon wedges melts in your mouth.
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The HEALTH SQUARED Agri Update: This week Bianca Viljoen, the director of marketing, distribution and rewards at Agility Agri, unpacks how Agility can help to contribute to the well-being of your employees. The focus is on loyalty in the age of mechanised farming.
How to listen to Farmer’s Inside Track
Option 1: Click here to listen on Spotify (all mobile and other devices).
Option 2: Click here to listen on any Apple device.
Option 3: Click here to listen on Google Podcasts.
Option 4: Listen below. Just click “play”.
