A public/private partnership between government and Nestlé South Africa was set to enhance chicory production in the Eastern Cape and could create 800 jobs in the next four years, trade and industry minister Rob Davies said last week. Davies was speaking at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the department, the Eastern Cape provincial government and Nestlé. The “chicory programme” is meant to urge local farmers to grow chicory and supply it to Nestlé for use in manufacturing of Ricoffy. Chicory is a caffeine free herb which is baked, ground and used as a coffee substitute and additive.
Davies said emerging farmers and chicory producers should recover agricultural land and create much needed permanent jobs. – ANA