Reaching out to communities comes naturally to ClemenGold®, the global mandarin brand with its roots in South Africa and a firm favourite amongst Woolworths shoppers. Every year, during the height of the local citrus season, it shares the bounty of fresh Vitamin C-rich fruit with the numerous communities in which its partnering farms and packhouses operate – from Limpopo and Mpumalanga to the Western and Southern Cape. Crèches, old age homes, hospitals, schools and other non-profit institutions serving communities in need, benefit from these donations.
“Because fruit is our business, we were again this year able and privileged to bring fresh fruit to thousands of people during a time when unemployment is rife and food scarce. Some of our businesses continuously support soup kitchens or feeding schemes, while our farming and packing operations donate fruit to surrounding communities. While the Covid pandemic increased the urgency for good nutrition multifold, the dire economic results of lockdown regulations hit households hard, challenging their ability to provide for their families,” says Viresh Ramburan of ClemenGold International.
To date, during citrus season, the various farms, packhouses and citrus brands, have stepped up to the challenge and channelled a record amount of fruit to these households. More than 596,524 kg of citrus has to date reached beneficiaries in need and employees of our company and their extended families.
Following the unrest and its consequences in KZN earlier this year, our nurseries, packhouses and farms in the North joined hands with the Kolisi Foundation and arranged that more than 50 tons of citrus and 3 tons of vegetables reach organisations in the area who handled the emergency food relief.