Investment firm RECM and Calibre (RAC) — headed by investment personalities Piet Viljoen, Jan van Niekerk and Theuns de Bruyn — has made rosy returns on its holding in healthcare retailer Dischem, which is reportedly being prepped for a JSE listing.

Margarine and cooking oil maker Sime Darby Hudson Knight agreed to pay a R35m fine for colluding with Unilever, the Competition Commission said.

The Competition Commission has approved a merger between Nestle SA’s pet food business and the company that owns Bob Martin, which makes snacks and treats for dogs.

Wal-Mart Stores said it was pushing suppliers to remove or restrict the use of eight hazardous chemicals from products including household cleaning, personal care and beauty items.

Books, pens, uniforms and miscellaneous — harried parents throughout SA have forked out thousands of rand in the run-up to the third term of the government school year.

Mara Delta (formerly Delta Africa) recently announced its acquisition of a 50%-interest in a new A-grade Zambian retail property from Rockcastle Global Real Estate Company.

Famous Brands has bought a bankrupt tomato paste factory in the Coega precinct. The factory is state-of-the-art and practically unused, Famous Brands said in its announcement. It cost R200m to build in 2010. The company did not say how much it had paid.

To understand the nature of poultry trade one needs some background, writes Kevin Lovell.In common with most agricultural commodities a relatively small percentage of the volumes produced are traded internationally. In the case of chicken meat this is about 13 percent of global production.

The Gogo Group, one of South Africa top producers and exporters of citrus, has opened a new state-of-the-art packing facility in Groblersdal, Mpumalanga, at an investment of over R100 million.