The History of I & M Smith (Pty.) Limited
1915 – 1920s
The company started as a general grains trading company in October 1915 by Isadore (Issy) and Mark Smith, established in Johannesburg. Included in the list of grains was the importation and distribution of green coffee from various origins, mainly Brazil and some smaller quantities from East Africa.
In the early years and shortly after the inception of the company, Issy and Mark’s three brothers, Louis, Morris, and Samuel, joined the company, to add to the company’s trading force. This was a necessary addition in manpower as the company’s trading volumes were on the increase and justified the requirement for additional staff.
1920s – 1960s
By late in the 1920s, the company expanded its supplier and product base, which was related to grains and included raw green coffee, as well as tea plantation companies in the then British India and Ceylon. This expansion led to the increased focus on bulk beverage related sourcing, and importation into South Africa of teas from Ceylon, and to a lesser extent, from India.
The relationship built with producers in these regions very soon expanded and contacts within the sub-continent tea plantation companies encouraged the addition of jute to their importation activities from India. Thereon post-independence in the 1940s, tea and jute imports continued from the independent countries, Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan.
The company imported coffee and tea in bulk packaging format, and in traditional jute, natural fibre bags for coffee, and characteristic tea in tea chests, for South African coffee and tea roasting, blending, and packing companies. Natural Fibre Jute was imported mainly in the form of bales and rolls, material for South African manufacturers of jute and hessian bags. In these times, jute and hessian bags were a major bulk packaging material for the grain, processed grains, and cement industries.
1960s – 1990s
During the early 1960s, the company had shed most of its general grain and jute trading interests to focus on the more specialised business of the quality controls and importation of bulk green coffees and bulk teas for their South African coffee and tea packing clients. Coffee sourced from plantations, agriculture group farming companies, and exporters in South and Central America, Africa, and Asia. Teas were mainly coming into South Africa from plantation companies and exporters in Sri Lanka. As the supply landscape changed, there were steadily increasing quantities of teas being imported from tea estates and estate companies in the developing tea producing sector in continental Africa and Mauritius.
By the late 1960s, the dominance of Sri Lanka tea that is exported worldwide carrying the Ceylon brand name, was on the wane in the South African market. While the company continued to actively import coffees from South and Central America, Africa, and Asia for the South African coffee roasters and packers, the teas were now mostly supplied from tea plantation companies in continental Africa and Mauritius, with only much smaller quantities coming in from Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, with the strong connections established within the African coffee and tea producing countries and likewise with tea plantation and export companies in Mauritius, I & M Smith Pty Ltd., expanded outward, to export coffees and teas from these regions to its growing client base in Europe, United Kingdom, North America, Japan, and Australasia.
1990s – today
Headquartered in South Africa, with offices based in Gauteng, Johannesburg, these activities continue to this day, with the company an active supplier of bulk teas and coffees from a worldwide range of suppliers to clients in Southern Africa, and globally, from plantation companies and co-operatives in Africa to clients in Europe, United Kingdom, Middle East, North America, Australasia, and Japan.
I & M Smith Pty Ltd. had by then, introduced bulk South African grown herbal infusion agricultural products in the form of Rooibos, Honeybush, and Buchu to its international tea and coffee blending and packing clients.
In line with the growing trend towards sustainability awareness, I & M Smith Pty Ltd., became the first in the South African context, to acquire Organic, and Fairtrade Certification. Many of the coffee, tea, and herbal infusions traded by the company, carry sustainability certifications.
These products are supplied by audited and certified suppliers under a range of sustainability banners such as Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, at the time Utz Certified, as well as Organic Certified. The company is regularly independently audited by these sustainability organisations.
Early in the 1990s and with a close relationship with coffee and tea plantation companies and co-operatives in Africa, the company was inspired to start a new branch to add to its activities.
I & M Smith Pty Ltd., became agents and suppliers of leading Brazil manufacturers of farm agricultural processing equipment, coffee roasting equipment, implementing turnkey solutions on farms and industrial coffee roasters, in southern Africa.
Aligned with its long-standing commitment to sustainability across the agricultural value chain, I & M Smith Pty Ltd. expanded its machinery supply activities through the development of connections with innovators and manufacturers of advanced technology electrostatic spraying equipment in the USA. These activities saw the company grow into the supply and product support of electrostatic spraying equipment to plantation companies, farming companies, and co-operative farming organisations throughout Africa, including the relatively diverse South African farming industry.
The company has since expanded into environmentally responsible packaging solutions and is the distributor for Ecotact, a global innovator in hermetic, eco-friendly, recyclable and sustainable packaging solutions, serving the Southern African region.
