Business

95-year-old chocolate icon in South Africa being sold

Luke Fraser

 ·1 Jun 2026

Tiger Brands is selling the Beacon brand, but the JSE-listed group will keep several of its most well-known chocolates.

In its financial results for the Six Months Ended 31 March 2026, Tiger Brands said that it had reached an agreement for the sale of the Beacon brand.

The deal, which was struck after the reporting period in May, also includes associated equipment for the chocolate slabs, Easter eggs, and assortments.

However, Tiger Brands said that several of its brands will be retained, including TV Bar, Nosh, Wonder Bar, Black Cat chocolate, Jelly Tots chocolate and the Jungle energy bar.

The group said that these brands are profitable and are strategic enablers of its ‘snackification’ growth platform.

On top of this, the group said that an agreement to sell property related to the previous chocolate and candy business was entered into in April 2026, with the sale set to conclude in FY26.

The group said that Beacon chocolate has been recognised as held for sale in the H1 26 financial statements.

While the group recorded an impairment of R92 million in H1 26 results, this is expected to be negated by the end of FY26 due to an anticipated increase in profit on the sale of the property.

Beacon was founded in 1931 when Hymie Zulman, an emigrant from Lithuania, bought Durban Confectionery and Spice Works.

Tiger Brands then acquired a 50% stake in Beacon in 1990, and fully acquired the brand in 1998.

The sale of the Beacon brand aligns with the group’s reduction in chocolate exposure and is also progressing alongside the sale of its Cameroonian chocolate business, Chococam.

While Tiger Brands is selling its stake in Beacon, it announced that it is no longer selling its King Foods business.

While the group said its King Foods brand was not considered core, none of the offers for the business met the company’s required hurdles for value realisation.

King Foods has since returned to profitability, and Tiger Brands has decided to retain the division and reassess its long-term strategic growth opportunities.

Financial results

In its financial results, the group said that the consumer environment remained competitive for the first half, with continued value-seeking behaviour driving purchasing patterns.

“The ripple effects of geopolitical uncertainty are expected to be felt more acutely in the second half, not only impacting the supply chain, but also consumer disposable income,” said Tiger Brands.

The group said that it is confident that it will mitigate any associated inflationary impacts through “improvement initiatives and select price increases to minimise adverse impacts on profitability.”

The group’s overall revenue growth during the period was 1.3% at R17.9 billion, driven by volume growth of 2.6% and price deflation of 1.3%.

The group’s bottom line was affected by higher net financing costs and lower income associates after the sale of its stake in Chile-based Carozzi in the previous financial year.

Earnings per share from total operations dropped 19.4% to 1,077 cents (H1 2025: 1,336 cents). Headline EPS (HEPS) from total operations increased by 6.5% to 1,001 cents per share (H1 25: 940 cents).

“The variation between HEPS and EPS mainly relates to profit on disposal of the Randfontein operations, an impairment of assets in the Beacon chocolate division of Snacks, Treats and Beverages,” it said.

The group still increased its interim dividend by 3.6% to 430 cents per share (H1 25: 415 cents per share). It also completed share buybacks of R1.6 billion during the period.