ZZ2 is a South African farming enterprise operating in the Limpopo Province, as well as in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Namibia. We produce tomatoes, avocadoes, mangoes, onions, garlic, dates, apples, pears, stone fruit, stud cattle and weaners. The ZZ2 brand is a well-known icon in South Africa with a proud history of over than a century.  

A TRULY SOUTH AFRICAN BRAND

The need for independence and a passion for farming have been part of the Van Zyl family for generations. Willem, the Van Zyl ancestor from the Netherlands, worked as a fresh produce farmer for the Dutch East Indian Company in the Cape of Good Hope. He was fired in 1702 due to insubordination. He then bought a farm in Franschhoek where he farmed with fresh produce, wine and livestock. His descendants left the Cape during the 1830s and gradually moved north. Eventually they settled in the region east of Polokwane in 1880.
 
After the Anglo-Boer War in 1902 a regulation came into play where farmers received a registered number (branding iron) with which to brand their livestock. In 1903 the code ZZ2 was awarded to Burt van Zyl, the grandfather of Bertie van Zyl – the founder of the ZZ2 farming enterprise. At some stage the branding iron was used to stamp potato bags in red paint before sending them to market. The mark migrated over time from a branding mark for livestock to a trademark for all ZZ2’s products.
 
Bertie van Zyl was born on 16 November 1932 on the farm Boekenhoutbult in the Mooketsi valley in Limpopo Province. 

Bertie left school in 1948 at the age of 16 to take over the farming responsibilities from his father. The farming activities centred on a mixed crop but focussed mainly on potatoes. Life was hard and the family barely survived. Enterprising by nature, Bertie soon realised that his neighbour made more money planting tomatoes than potatoes. The climate in the fertile Mooketsi valley made it possible to plant tomato crops year-round. Although convincing his father of the viability of tomatoes was not easy, his first successful tomato crop was harvested in 1953. ZZ2 was registered as a private company in 1966.

Tenacity, an eye for a business opportunity, a knack for communicating with labourers in their own language and an unwavering self-belief stood Bertie in good stead over the years. At the time of his death in 2005, he had built up ZZ2 to a multi-million Rand farming conglomerate and had made his mark in public life – both in the agricultural sector and on provincial and national level.  Today the ZZ2 brand is a well-known icon in South Africa and we are proud of its history.
 
The Sepedi/Northern Sotho phrase ‘Ke Tzwa Tzweo’ was added to our brand in 2014 and a literal translation is ‘This is it’. With this phrase we acknowledge the majority of the people in our environment who helped build ZZ2.
 
NATUURBOERDERY (NATURE FARMING)
 
At the dawn of the 21st century ZZ2 developed a farming philosophy called Natuurboerdery®.  Our thinking was guided by:
 
· The marked degradation of soil under synthetic fertilizer as practiced in an industrialised agricultural approach.
 
· The increased cost-cutting bind that had become a reality of modern, industrialised farming.
 
· The economic, social and environmental unsustainability in which industrial farming found itself.
 
Agricultural practices and processes founded in Natuurboerdery® are aimed at using the best technology in harmony with the laws of living nature, of which the most important are probably efficiency and adaptable sustainability. It can also be described as moving away from “hard” industrialised farming concepts by including more sensible concepts of organic farming. Natuurboerdery®-based farming principles encompass more than agricultural practices – they also govern our entire association with our natural environment.
 
PACK HOUSES
 
One of ZZ2’s distinguishing features is the variety and quality of produce supply. We are able to meet the supply through different packaging lines. At times when there is an over-supply at markets the diversity in packaging gives us a competitive edge.
 
In the case of tomatoes, we provide 52 lines (packaging types) for Fresh Produce Markets and also 55 different lines for supermarkets. We have 90 sorting types for onions, five lines for garlic, 20 different lines for avocadoes and five lines for mangoes. ZZ2’s pack houses are all accredited for GlobalGAP and HACCP.
 
The following pack houses are managed by ZZ2: Boekenhoutbult (avocadoes, mangoes and tomatoes), Dikgale (tomatoes, onions and garlic), Rietpol (tomatoes), Waterpoort (tomatoes), Vreedzaam (tomatoes), Winkelhaak (onion and garlic), Oudrif (stone fruit) and Synceres’s controlled atmospheric (BA) storage facilities.  Oudrif has an extensive BA storage facility for internal and external use.
 
Reception: 015 395 2040 / info@zz2.co.za
Marketing: 015 395 8559 / info@zz2.co.za
Human Resources: 015 395 8427 / werwing@zz2online.com
PO Box 19
Mooketsi
0825
South Africa