It all started in 1989, when Louis Bruwer and David Scott who had worked together in the livestock industry for many years, decided they could offer a better service and so they started SALA – South African Livestock Agents.
Initially SALA just provided a service for farmers to get their pigs slaughtered and sold on auction. Years later Louis’ son Ryan and David’s son Sean joined the business and their offerings expanded.
They started selling directly to butchers, doing deliveries, cutting and packing raw and frozen pork and later making smoked products which they sold to major retailers.
The backstory
The guys realised that the best way to grow their business would be to start producing their own products under their own brand.
In keeping with the spirit of the brand, all of their products are 100% locally produced. All smoked products are 100% Wood Smoked, which is their differentiating factor, the thing that makes their pork products so flavoursome and unique.
What’s in a name?
Georgie is Ryan’s daughter and chief flavour critic. Using her name as part of a strong brand identity is an indication that this is a family business, with a solid team who pride themselves on the personal touch they offer and the fact that everything is done in house. They are not a big corporate factory with no personal identity.
Food Safety Standards and 100% Traceability
The team pride themselves on their Food Safety standards and have achieved their FSSC 22 000 food safety certification which is currently the highest standard you can achieve in South Africa.
Part of this is full accountability and full traceability for every piece of meat that comes from farm to fork. Each pack of bacon or each cut of pork is traceable to the farm where it originated from.
Knowing this not only gives retailers peace of mind, but consumers can be assured that they are eating nothing but the best locally produced pork products.