Business

Owner of Blue Ribbon and Snowflake looking for Plan B to major factory shutdown

Jonathan Hoyle

 ·10 Nov 2026

Premier Foods said it is seeking alternative uses for its Tulbagh Cannery, which it shut down shortly after acquiring it in a merger with RFG Holdings.

“Premier provided generous support to the employees and the fruit producers, [and] will continue to seek alternative business opportunities to repurpose the facility,” the company said.

In March 2026, the Competition Commission conditionally approved the merger of Premier Foods and RFG Holdings, valued at approximately R6.5 billion.

As part of the merger, the commission recommended certain conditions to address public interest concerns, including employment protections.

Following the completion of the merger, Premier shut down the Tulbagh cannery in the Western Cape, which formed part of RFG’s portfolio.

In response, the Competition Commission said it would move to revoke approval of the merger and filed an application with the Competition Tribunal.

The commission said in October that the merger had been based on assurances that no facilities would be closed or disposed of.

“[The companies] repeated this assurance before the Competition Tribunal approved the transaction, confirming that they did not contemplate closing, integrating or consolidating their respective production facilities,” it said in October.

However, four months after the merger, Premier told the Commission it intended to close the cannery, citing long-term structural issues in the global market.

The commission argued that the closure would significantly affect competition and employment in the region.

“[The factory] is a significant regional employer, and its proposed closure would affect more than 400 permanent and fixed-term employees, as well as thousands of seasonal workers across the broader agricultural value chain,” the commission said.

In its latest interim results, Premier Foods said the commission’s move to revoke the merger approval was “unrealistic”.

It is our view that for the Tribunal Appeal to undo the merger is not realistic,” the company said.

“Merger conditions cannot be changed post-approval, and a strong causal link needs to exist between the merger and subsequent decisions to be merger-related.”

“There was no contemplation of closure prior to the merger approval. As such, there have been no merger-related retrenchments, only voluntary separation agreements which were specifically allowed.”

Closed for poor performance

Premier explained that the cannery was closed due to poor performance after the merger was completed, driven by higher input costs and reduced global demand.

“The industry has been in long-term decline, with canneries closing globally, as demand for canned fruit products has declined,” it said.

“This has been driven by rising input costs, lower capacity utilisation and the need for greater scale in an increasingly competitive international market.”

The company said that, following the merger, the global canned fruit industry had “experienced a rapid decline”.

Overall, the RFG Holdings merger was a significant boost for Premier’s interim results, with the company’s revenue rising by 38.8%.

The company said this result was aided by the merger, particularly the inclusion of the culinary segment into its portfolio.

“The Group’s revenue increased by 38.8% to R14.3 billion, primarily driven by the inclusion of the Culinary category following the acquisition of RFG in March 2026,” it said.

Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) reached R2 billion, a 51.4% year-on-year increase.

Operating profit also increased strongly by 52.5% to R1.7 billion, with the group’s operating profit margin rising to 11.8%.

Both earnings per share and Headline Earnings Per Share (HEPS) were 711 cents per share, increasing by 27.5% and 27.1%, respectively.

Premier Foods H1 2027 results snapshot