BEFORE you slap Black Cat peanut butter on your favourite sandwich, those nuts travel an incredible journey from Mzansi's farms to your table.
And this year, that journey has been tougher than ever.
Black Cat is celebrating 100 years of feeding Mzansi.
But the farmers who grow the nuts that make the country's favourite bread spread have faced one of their worst years yet.
Heavy rains destroyed crops, forcing farmers to work day and night to salvage what they can.
Daily Sun was invited on a two-day farm-to-factory heritage tour by Tiger Brands in Schweizer-Reneke, North West, where two of the country's biggest peanut farmers grow their crops.
SA'S LARGEST PEANUT FARMERS
Wikus Mostert, a second-generation farmer who has been working the land for 22 years, farms 1 500 hectares of peanuts, making him the largest rainfed peanut farmer in the country.
"We've never faced anything like this," he told journalists at his farm.
The region received more than 900mm of rain during the harvest season, double the normal 400mm to 500mm.
"We had four weeks of rain during harvest, and that caused major problems. Peanut plants should only be in the ground for 150 days, but ours have been there for more than 200 days," saud Mostert.
Normally, after the growing cycle, peanuts are removed from the soil and left to dry on the ground for a week or more.
But this year, rain poured down on the harvested peanuts before they could dry up.
"Some of the nuts got so wet they started germinating right there on the ground.
"We've lost half our crop this year. You can never predict nature. As a farmer, you just hope and believe next year will be better," said Mostert.
WHEN PEANUTS GET TOO WET
Albe Koen, director at Triotrade, Tiger Brands' processing partner, explained the devastating effects of too much rain on peanuts.
"When peanuts have been too wet for too long, they start rotting. They get attacked by nematodes that enter the pods and destroy them," he said.
The worst part? Wet, damaged peanuts can develop aflatoxins - dangerous poisons produced by mould that grows on nuts and grains when they get damp.
These toxins can make people seriously sick and can't be removed once they form, which is why Tiger Brands has to reject entire truckloads if they find even one contaminated batch.
This means farmers lose not just their crops to the rain, but also any damaged nuts that can't be safely processed into peanut butter.
HARVESTING BY HAND
Keith Viljoen, a first-generation farmer who has been growing peanuts since 2001, farms 1 100 hectares, making him Mzansi's second-largest rainfed peanut farmer.
He said the rain was so heavy they couldn't use their mechanical harvesters.
"We received so much rain we couldn't get machinery onto the land. We had to make a call - either lose everything or harvest by hand," said Viljoen.
"Getting these nuts into heaps is 100% labour-intensive. Everything has to be done manually."
At the time of the visit, the farmers had managed to harvest 300 hectares but still had 170 hectares to go.
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Both Mostert and Viljoen have been supplying Tiger Brands since 2019.
PRIDE IN EVERY JAR
Lebogang Marumo (29), a casual worker, who has been driving tractors at Grens Plaas for two years, said he feels proud when he sees Black Cat on shop shelves.
"I feel happy when I see packaged peanut butter because I know where the nuts come from," said Lebogang.
His words capture the journey from soil to sandwich - a journey made possible by hundreds of farm workers like him who work the land, come rain or shine.
FROM 200 FARMERS TO YOUR TABLE
Black Cat sources peanuts from about 200 farmers across 3 900 hectares in Mzansi.
Most nuts come from North West (57%), Northern Cape (30%) and Free State (13%).
After harvest, the nuts are cleaned and processed by Triotrade, Tiger Brands' long-standing partner of 26 years, before being loaded onto trucks and sent to the factory in Chamdor, Krugersdorp.
The Black Cat facility employs 61 permanent workers who turn 8 000 to 9 000 tonnes of peanuts into 2,5 million jars of peanut butter every year.
About 80% to 90% of the peanuts used are grown locally.
The remaining 10% to 20% are imported from Argentina and Brazil to blend with Mzansi peanuts, which don't have as high an oil content.
WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS
At the Chamdor factory, Thabang Letsoalo, the plant manager, explained the final steps to producing high-quality peanut butter.
His job is to make sure the factory's highly intelligent machines and staff work as one to produce quality products.
"I run the whole factory, from getting to understanding what the market needs to turning it into a product," said Thabang.
This requires the production manager to work closely and follow the process with all 40 staff members under him.
The factory can produce 92 tonnes of peanut butter a day, turning groundnuts into the smooth spread through cleaning, roasting, grinding and packaging.
QUALITY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE
Dumo Mfini, managing director: Culinary at Tiger Brands, said this was the first farm-to-factory heritage tour for the Black Cat brand to mark its centenary.
"Triotrade is one of our biggest suppliers and works with many farmers. We're proud to showcase what we do so people can see what goes into our products," he said.
"We've been partners with Triotrade for 26 years. We've had workshops with farmers and invited them to our factories to show them why we reject truckloads when there are quality issues.
"When we pick up one quality problem, we have to reject a whole truck. That's why getting quality right is non-negotiable."
He explained that Black Cat doesn't have additives - it's just ground nuts with a bit of salt and sugar.
"It's more than 90% nuts, so quality is everything. That's why we also test every batch through external labs before it reaches customers."
Despite this year's rain challenges, farmers like Mostert and Viljoen - workers like Marumo, and factory staff like those led by Letsoalo - remain hopeful that next season will bring better weather and bumper harvests to keep Black Cat on South African tables for another 100 years.
