Maize Master Helps Business Grow

We talk to Gritsly Mill in Welkom

Gritsly Mill started out as a relatively small operation that mainly focussed on supplying hominy chop to feedlots and maize grit to breweries in South Africa. The first grit mill was built in 2010 on a farm just outside of Welkom in the Northern Free State. Initially, the mill only had a capacity of 2000 ton per month but since then the company has had to move to bigger premises and implement several upgrades to keep up with the demand. Today the Gritsly Mill has reached a capacity of 10 000 ton per month and employs just over a 100 people from the Welkom community.

Gritsly Mill is a proud and loyal client of Maize Master since 2010. We spoke to Arrie Reyneke from Gritsly Mill to learn more about the company and why Maize Master is their preferred milling equipment supplier.

Q: Tell us more about how Gritsly Mill got started? 

A: I started nine years ago with the Silostrat Group, an agricultural commodities trading house. I was responsible for getting a foot in the South African meat industry by means of the feedlot industry. After completing my research I saw a possible gap in the grit market and through Silostrat we rented a small maize mill on a farm just outside of Welkom. Within one year we saw the potential for the company to be even bigger and a decision was made to register Gritsly as a milling company. The first premises were bought and a mill was built that had a capacity of 3000 ton per month. Over the next three years, the mill’s capacity was not sufficient anymore and new premises were purchased once again and a mill was imported from Turkey with a capacity of 6000 ton per month. After just two years the upgraded mill’s capacity was again depleted. A decision was made to use additional equipment to increase the capacity with another 4000 ton per month and that’s where we are now.

Q: What products do you produce? 

A: Our main product is maize grit (white) that’s sold to the sorghum Beer Industry in South Africa as well as yellow maize that’s sold to the snack industry. We also supply several feedlots with hominy chop and white and yellow maize.

Maize meal is one of our by-products during the milling process which we sell throughout the country to maize meal suppliers.

Q: What is your total milling capacity? 

A: We mill about 10 000 ton per month on the grit mill and an additional 1200 ton mealie meal per month using the container mill from Maize Master.

Q: How did you come to work with Maize Master? 

A: I was first introduced to Maize Master by another milling company when I was doing my initial research. We worked with the team since the start of Gritsly eight years ago on some smaller projects at Gritsly, but our partnership has only grown over the years.

Q: What has your experience been working with Maize Master?

A: Maize Master is a company that’s always willing to go the extra mile and to tailor make their equipment to suit your specific needs. Maize Master is definitely one of Gristly’s preferred suppliers when it comes to milling equipment. 

Q: Why would you recommend Maize Master? 

A: The company is a well-established and offers good quality machinery and service. Aside from that, I would say that the company and its team have good value systems in place and they do their work with integrity. To me, it’s also important to establish long-term working relationships to ensure sustainable business and I can truly say that that’s what I’ve found working with Maize Master.

Q: What Maize Master milling equipment do you use? 

A: We have several smaller pieces of equipment from Maize Master that we use in our business, but we also purchased a M3500 Container Mill last year.

Q: How has this affected your turnover and quality of product?

A: As maize meal is a by-product from the grit mill, Gritsly cannot increase the volume on the maize meal. However, the demand for maize meal has increased in such a way that we required a separate mill to increase our supply on white maize meal to the fulfil the growing demand. The M3500 Container Mill was the solution to our problem and has added value to our current business structure.