The South African Breweries Ltd’s (SAB) involvement in the barley and malting industries in South Africa stretches back more than a century. The modern malting era began with the building of a malting plant at SAB’s Isando Brewery in the late 1950s, resulting in an increasing involvement in local malting barley development programmes.

The 1970s marked SAB’s first serious attempt to move local production of malting barley and malt towards a degree of self-sufficiency. In 1972 SAB acquired Nasionale Mout’s sorghum plant at Alrode and converted it to a barley malting plant, quadrupling its processing capacity by 1978.

Southern Associated Maltsters (SAM) was established in April 1978 as a joint venture between SAB, Suid-Afrikaanse Sentrale Ko-operatiewe Graanmaatskappy Beperk (SASKO), and Caledon Riviersonderend Ko-operasie Beperk (CRK). SAB now holds all of the issued ordinary shares in the company, while Overberg Agri (previously CRK) owns all the preference shares.

Barley growing commenced in the Caledon, Swellendam and Bredasdorp areas in the early 1970s. During the mid-90s, a second barley growing area was established under irrigation in the Vaalharts and Taung areas.

The barley malting industry is significant in South Africa’s national economy, with barley playing a crucial role in the crop rotation systems used by farmers. Barley is grown on about 850 farms predominantly in the South Western Cape, which, with its Mediterranean climate, is well suited.

In 2006, 431 farmers in the Southern Cape, 240 farmers in the Northern Cape and 161 emergent farmers in the irrigation areas of the north planted barley for the malting industry. Caledon Maltings is now one of the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere with an annual capacity of 180,000 tonnes. Caledon Maltings runs a 24 hours a day, 365 days per year operation. Every 14 to 16 hours, a 306 tonnes malt batch is produced. Each batch is equivalent to nine rail wagons and will produce 7.8 million cans/dumpies of beer.

SAM, now called SAB Maltings, currently employs 132 employees; 67 in the Caledon Plant, 30 in the Alrode Plant, 19 in Barley and Development and 16 in administration and finance.