SAPPO hosted its 2025 Baconer’s Brunch on 8 May at the Grand Lounge, Pretoria Country Club. Now in its second year in this format, the brunch brought together top agricultural media – Farmers Weekly, Plaas Media, African Farming, and Landbouweekblad – alongside a diverse cross-section of industry stakeholders and thought leaders.
The event provided a dynamic platform to explore collaborative strategies for strengthening the pork industry’s competitiveness and identifying new avenues for growth within the broader meat sector.
The speaker lineup featured respected voices from across the pork value chain and beyond:
- Dr. Peter Evans – CEO, SAPPO
- Thembelihle Ngiba – Business Development Manager, SAPPO
- Thandi Chiappero – Head of Consumer Assurance, SAPPO
- Christian Zimelka – Head of Consumer Education, SAPPO
- Wicus Pretorius – Editor, Tuis | Home
- Chris Ngeleza – Manager: Transformation, SAMIC
- Dawie Roodt – Chief Economist, Efficient Group
- Karen Heath – Tim Noakes Foundation
- Stephen Butt – SAPPO Board Member
- Prof. Esté van Marle-Köster – University of Pretoria
Among the day’s key themes were the importance of consumer trust, animal welfare, and sustainable growth. SAPPO leadership reiterated the organisation’s commitment to aligning farming practices with societal expectations and maintaining high welfare and biosecurity standards, especially in light of ongoing animal disease challenges like African swine fever.
Consumer education also took centre stage, with updates on initiatives that aim to correct outdated perceptions of pork and highlight its nutritional benefits. Christian Zimelka shared how SAPPO’s campaigns are reaching new audiences and driving better-informed food choices.
The event concluded with an engaging keynote from Dawie Roodt, Chief Economist at the Efficient Group. Roodt offered a compelling economic perspective on the critical role of small businesses, the changing nature of work, and the growing importance of technology and skills development in future-proofing any sector, including agriculture.
Stay tuned for a full feature on SAPPO’s 2025 Baconer’s Brunch in the winter edition of our PORCUS Primecuts magazine.
