Van Rensburg's multi-million venture is the East London IDZ first agro-processing investor.

When the Dispatch visited the site of the future Sunningdale Dairy on Friday, workers in hard hats were crawling all over the 6500m² site, all working hard to get the factory operational by the end of the month.



Proud owner and investor Neil van Rensburg pointed out special features of the factory which, once built, will take the milk of between 10 000 and 12 000 local cows and turn it into various forms of quality milk products to be enjoyed across the province.



"Every time I visit I'm gobsmacked at how the factory's progressing," Van Rensburg said. "We know this is going to be successful."



Van Rensburg and wife Sandy are the owners of Sunningdale Dairy. They started farming in 1980, and by the late 80s had started their dairy business.



This latest venture in the Elidz is worth roughly R140million in equipment and construction materials.



When the dairy launches, about 250 people will immediately find jobs there, with the potential to increase the workforce in future.



Local and developing farmers will also benefit from the dairy's close proximity as, according to Van Rensburg, in the past, milk was processed beyond the city limits.



Four silos, with a combined storage capacity of 240 000 litres, are the factory's most distinguishing feature, but once inside it is immediately clear that the materials used for the floors, walls and roof are of the highest quality.



The machines which will pasteurise, homogenise and sort the milk are imported from Germany, and assembled in Johannesburg, while the 2100m² cold storeroom is "the biggest the installers have ever set up", said Van Rensburg.



The entire environment within the dairy will be controlled in terms of temperature by the insulation panels used in the building, and onsite laboratories will test the milk to ensure it is of the highest standard.



Unique to the dairy is an effluent processing system set up next to the building.



All runoff water and milk by-products will be fed into the recycling system, itself worth R4. 5m, with an end result of about 200 000 litres of water able to be reused for the dairy's operation.



Elidz spokesperson Ayanda Ramncwana said Sunningdale was the first agro-processing investor in the East London IDZ and a realisation of the zone's goal to attract strategic investments in key target sectors.