Overview: Maize meal production in South Africa – Roff Milling

Q: Why should a maize producer consider investing in a maize mill?

A maize mill gives producers the opportunity to add value to their own maize instead of relying only on the raw grain price. By milling, packaging and marketing maize meal, producers can create an additional revenue stream and reduce the impact of maize price volatility on their business. By-products like maize germ and bran can also be sold or used in feed operations, helping ensure that more of the maize kernel contributes to the bottom line.

Q: How can milling help protect farmers from maize price fluctuations?

Maize prices are constantly influenced by market conditions, weather, climate changes and global events. When prices are low, producers may feel pressure on margins, especially when input costs remain high. Milling helps producers move further up the value chain by selling a finished product rather than only raw maize, giving them more control over their margins and market position.

Q: What products can be made from a maize milling plant?

A commercial maize mill can produce maize meal, while some configurations can also produce grits for snack products. The milling process also creates by-products such as maize germ and bran, which can be sold to feedlots or used in a producer’s own animal feed operation. In Idlani’s case, this has become a useful additional income stream alongside their main maize meal business.

Q: What makes the Roff R-70 a good option for maize milling entrepreneurs?

The Roff R-70 is a compact commercial maize mill designed for entrepreneurs who want to produce maize meal at scale. It has a milling capacity of 4 to 5 tons per hour and can produce up to 120 tons of maize per day, depending on the configuration. Roff positions the R-70 as a compact, all-in-one maize mill built around simple, high-quality milling principles.

Q: What support does Roff provide with the R-70?

Roff supplies the mill, electric panel boards, installation, set-up and training. The blog also highlights the value of choosing a manufacturer with a strong reputation, industry knowledge, after-sales support and locally available parts, especially when downtime can directly affect profitability.

Maize is the most widely grown crop in sub-Saharan Africa and is a staple food for an estimated 50% of the population, therefore critical to ensuring food security on the continent.

As one of the key countries that dominate maize production in the region, South Africa accounted for 16% of the maize production on the African continent in 2024-2025.

Quick facts

Average annual production: 15.8 million tons in 2020/2021 (90% of the total cereal production in SA)
Imports: South Africa doesn’t usually import much; however due to drought it imported a record number of 770 000 tons during the 2016/2017 season
Exports: 2.8 million metric tons to countries like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Zimbabwe and Botswana in 2021/2022
Consumption of white maize meal: 81kg per person per year
38% of the maize produced in South Africa is for human consumption
The price of yellow maize (animal feed) directly impacts the cost of poultry in South Africa as it’s the biggest input cost for chicken producers.

In 2017, South Africa yielded a record high maize production of 12.7 tons, following a two-year drought period. This led to carry-over stock in 2018. So while white maize production declined by 22%, the price of maize remained low due to increased availability compared to previous years.

Subsequently, consumers switched back from bread to maize (pap/porridge) leading to a bread surplus.

By 2020/2021, a new production record of 15.8 million tons was set.

The South African market

The population of South Africa in 2021 was approximately 60 000 000 where 74.9% of the population had a per capita income of less than ZAR5,200.00 PM ($320.22). Maize is consumed largely by lower income, price sensitive consumers and is used as a staple food in the majority of the country’s households. Mieliepap or maize porridge is a staple breakfast and is often also consumed for lunch and dinner.

South Africans consumed approximately 5.2 million metric tons of processed maize in 2019/2020. White maize is mainly used to produce maize meal, which is primarily used to make porridge in South Africa.

Types of maize meal

The percentage of germ removed during extraction will influence the grading of the end product. Maize meal that has the least germ extracted is labelled “unsifted”, moving up the scale as extraction rates increase, to “sifted”, “special” and “super” maize meal. South Africans generally prefer the special and super grades, so most of the bigger millers have stopped producing “unsifted” and “sifted” maize meal. There are also strong regional preferences for certain grades of maize meal, with “super” being the most popular. Braaipap is made from a courser grade maize meal and is a popular side dish with a South African braai.

Other uses for processed maize

Baked, extruded maize snacks: Maize is the cereal base most commonly used by South African snack manufacturers and our milling industry is geared for producing high quality maize grits.

Maize chips and snacks are manufactured using an extrusion-based process similar to that of puffed maize snacks. These products have since become increasingly popular and occupy an important section of the snack market.

Puffed maize snacks

Breakfast cereals - Puffed maize cereal is an extruded, ready-to-eat breakfast cereal that only requires the addition of milk for consumption. It is manufactured from maize meal, salt, sugar, syrups, flavouring, shortening, water and various coatings.

Beer production - Umqombothi (Xhosa pronunciation: [um̩k͡ǃomboːtʰi]), is a Xhosa traditional beer made from maize (corn), maize malt, sorghum malt, yeast and water. One of the most popular Lagers in the region include maize as an ingredient to give it a unique local flavour.

Beverages - Magau is a traditional sour maize beverage. Industrial preparation of magau involves the use of refined ingredients such as maize meal, wheat flour, sugar and starter cultures, and a standardised well-controlled process.

Comparative consumption of staples in South Africa

Per capita consumption

Packaged maize: 81kg
Packaged leavened bread: 21kg
Packaged rice: 11kg

White maize meal or pap is the most commonly consumed staple in the country. Low-income groups are highly dependent on white maize meal in South Africa. and is usually eaten with a tomato or meat-based stew. Maize meal is affordable, and due to government policy, is fortified with vitamins and minerals to boost the health of lower-income citizens.

Bread is the second most consumed staple in terms of volume, however, its much higher average price means its market value is 60% higher.

Price sensitive consumers tend to switch between maize and bread as their staple food, depending on which is cheaper. This in turn is determined by availability. During the droughts of 2015-2016, maize was imported, so consumers opted for bread because it was cheaper.

Maize meal is a critical food stuff for South African consumers, and as such maize producers and maize milling entrepreneurs play a valuable role to meet this demand.

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