Jan van Dordrecht, former owner of Candy Tops, the East London sweet factory is facing closure and loss of hundreds of jobs, has watched in dismay how his family business has been run into the ground by a Johannesburg corporation.
Van Dordrecht, 59, along with his brother, Chick, and sisters Marie and Toni Evans, bought the tiny sweet business in 1984.
By the time they sold it to Nick Dennis’ Lodestone Brands in 2010, the family had built Candy Tops into a “massively profitable” venture employing 550 people and supplying wholesalers with their iconic brand of Champion toffees and many other lines across the country up to Angola.
Van Dordrecht was speaking yesterday as Lodestone locked horns with two unions and management representatives in a CCMA hearing in East London.
It was not clear at the time of writing what the outcome of the hearing was.
An estimated 360 contract and full-time workers, machine operators, technicians, supervisors and managers are fighting for their economic lives and the security of their families against a Section 189A notice to retrench on a large scale.
The 60-day notice was announced on January 14 by Johan van Zyl, Lodestone director and chief operating officer.
Yesterday Van Dordrecht spoke about two periods in the life of Candy Tops:
Twenty-six years of tough growth as a family-run business which grew jobs from 30 to 600, and ploughed profits into new machines in a plant which produced 2000 tons of confectionery a month; and
Six years of “corporatisation” which saw jobs being slashed through retrenchment by 250, from 600 jobs to 350, while production fell by an estimated 1400 tons to 600 tons.
Lodestone spokeswoman and human resources executive Thabisa Moleshe this week declined to comment on any issues at the plant citing a need to show good faith during the CCMA hearings. She did not respond to calls yesterday.
Van Dordrecht said: “We never retrenched a single person and there were tough times.
“But we were massively profitable. People stayed with us. About 25 of them have been there for 20 years or longer.
“They changed things so much. They started a retrenchment programme and older staff just left.
“Sweet-making is highly skilled. They lost a lot of skills.”
Turning to the iconic Champion toffee range, he said: “We bought Wilson toffees from Nestlé 15 years ago.
“They had one machine going, but we increased it to three machines producing 2400 of the black treacle Champion Original toffees a minute.
“They were the best, a real profit spinner. During hard times it was Champion Originals that kept us going.
“When we made them they were really fantastic.
“The beauty was they were nice and hard and you could chew them for a long time.
“We concentrated on the wholesale market in SA and did a lot of exporting to Angola, but now they have turned more to the retail market, which is a smaller market, and this has meant real problems.”
Dordrecht said he did not understand the need for the move to Johannesburg.
“They have 18000m² of factory space and storage in Wilsonia with five-year leases.
“They will have to keep on paying R500000 a month in rent.
“It is a really stupid move.”
Corporate ran ‘profitable’ sweet factory into ground
Van Dordrecht, 59, along with his brother, Chick, and sisters Marie and Toni Evans, bought the tiny sweet business in 1984.
By the time they sold it to Nick Dennis’ Lodestone Brands in 2010, the family had built Candy Tops into a “massively profitable” venture employing 550 people and supplying wholesalers with their iconic brand of Champion toffees and many other lines across the country up to Angola.
Van Dordrecht was speaking yesterday as Lodestone locked horns with two unions and management representatives in a CCMA hearing in East London.
It was not clear at the time of writing what the outcome of the hearing was.
An estimated 360 contract and full-time workers, machine operators, technicians, supervisors and managers are fighting for their economic lives and the security of their families against a Section 189A notice to retrench on a large scale.
The 60-day notice was announced on January 14 by Johan van Zyl, Lodestone director and chief operating officer.
Yesterday Van Dordrecht spoke about two periods in the life of Candy Tops:
Twenty-six years of tough growth as a family-run business which grew jobs from 30 to 600, and ploughed profits into new machines in a plant which produced 2000 tons of confectionery a month; and
Six years of “corporatisation” which saw jobs being slashed through retrenchment by 250, from 600 jobs to 350, while production fell by an estimated 1400 tons to 600 tons.
Lodestone spokeswoman and human resources executive Thabisa Moleshe this week declined to comment on any issues at the plant citing a need to show good faith during the CCMA hearings. She did not respond to calls yesterday.
Van Dordrecht said: “We never retrenched a single person and there were tough times.
“But we were massively profitable. People stayed with us. About 25 of them have been there for 20 years or longer.
“They changed things so much. They started a retrenchment programme and older staff just left.
“Sweet-making is highly skilled. They lost a lot of skills.”
Turning to the iconic Champion toffee range, he said: “We bought Wilson toffees from Nestlé 15 years ago.
“They had one machine going, but we increased it to three machines producing 2400 of the black treacle Champion Original toffees a minute.
“They were the best, a real profit spinner. During hard times it was Champion Originals that kept us going.
“When we made them they were really fantastic.
“The beauty was they were nice and hard and you could chew them for a long time.
“We concentrated on the wholesale market in SA and did a lot of exporting to Angola, but now they have turned more to the retail market, which is a smaller market, and this has meant real problems.”
Dordrecht said he did not understand the need for the move to Johannesburg.
“They have 18000m² of factory space and storage in Wilsonia with five-year leases.
“They will have to keep on paying R500000 a month in rent.
“It is a really stupid move.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos