The Fund of R400 million (R200 million dedicated to education, managed separately) is an independent Trust established by PepsiCo as part of its merger conditions from PepsiCo’s acquisition of Pioneer Foods in March 2020. The Fund is governed by a board of trustees with representation from both PepsiCo and Independent trustees. The fund is led by an Executive Director and supported by a stellar management team.

The KDF was established in January 2022.

The fund is looking forward to supporting enterprises within the South African food system during open application windows. The funding available will be low-interest debt alongside technical support and assistance, as required.

The applicant needs to be legally registered and be able to provide a historical record of  operational success. In addition, we will be looking for B-BBEE contribution levels and 51% black ownership structure.

Applicants can request debt funding as well as technical support from a number of our partners. This ranges from commodity specific production advice and farm management to business model development and scaling market access for distribution partners.

A partner is an entity that provides a service to extend the mission of the Fund. A beneficiary receives that service from the Fund’s partners or receives a loan directly from the Fund. 

The KDF sources investment opportunities from both appointed business development service providers (BDSP) and directly from applicants. The fund appoints BDSPs  to provide a pipeline of viable applications, mitigate operational and financial risks, and provide support to meet performance targets and outcomes. Beneficiaries applying directly for funding also serve as a source of investment opportunities.

Potatoes, yellow & white maize, oats, raisins, groundnuts, wheat, sunflower, tree nuts, and tree fruit.

Distributors, retailers, co-manufacturers, co-packagers and packaging.

The fund offers black-owned enterprises (e.g. farming and suppliers) operating across the Food & Beverage value chain the resources to grow from a state of emerging to commercial viability. These include farmers, other suppliers of raw materials, distributors, retailers, packaging suppliers, co-manufacturers and co-packagers.

The fund also offers black-owned startups that have innovations in areas of Agri (Tech) Solutions, Affordable Nutrition and Sustainable Packaging the opportunity to participate in an Innovation Challenge. Startups are selected to participate in an accelerator program and receive financial support for their business