History

The Rhodes Food Group can trace its history right back to the late 1800s. At that time most of the fertile land in the regions around Cape Town was under vines but due to the phylloxera epidemic thousands of these had to be destroyed. Cecil John Rhodes began buying up these former grape producing farms in the Stellenbosch, Wellington and Groot Drakenstein areas around 1897 and together with his partners planted close on 200 000 deciduous fruit trees in place of the vines.

A new company, Rhodes Fruit Farms Ltd, was born and enjoyed great success for the next century, both with sales of fresh deciduous fruits but also canned products and jams. In 1999 the company was sold to a privately owned food group, the Ivor Ferreira Trust, who boasted a strong track record in agriculture and the fruit canning industry. Thus the Rhodes Food Group (Pty) Ltd was established, incorporating Rhodes Fruit Farms, Wonderland Foods and Swazican. For over one hundred years the Rhodes Food Group has delivered naturally delicious and premium quality fresh and canned foods to consumers around the world. Their unwavering commitment to quality has ensured a loyal local and international customer base.