The Tiger Brands Foundation: Supporting in-school nutrition

The TBF operates under the governance of an independent board of trustees and collaborates with various funders and partners, including Tiger Brands. Through its ownership structures, Tiger Brands contributes approximately 5% of shareholding dividends annually to support the TBF's initiatives. In 2024, the TBF received R30 503 396 in dividends from Tiger Brands.

The TBF's activities, which are separate from Tiger Brands' own socio-economic development (SED) initiatives, focus on in-school feeding programmes. These include providing breakfasts, constructing school kitchens and training volunteer food handlers for meal preparation. The TBF also invests in research to inform evidence-based strategies that address school nutrition challenges in South Africa. A key priority is advocating for the inclusion of breakfast in the National School Nutrition programme (NSNP), overseen by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and emphasising the importance of a comprehensive meal plan for students.

The NSNP is the second-largest social support programme in South Africa after social grants, providing a cooked meal to 9,2 million learners every school day. The TBF works with the NSNP to deliver an additional breakfast meal, helping learners who come to school hungry to better engage and perform in their studies. Supported by research and advocacy funded by the TBF, the DBE recognises the value of adding breakfast to the current single meal provided and is piloting breakfast programmes across all provinces, aiming to launch a full breakfast initiative in quintile one to three schools.

The Tiger Brands breakfast programme

The Tiger Brands Foundation supports in-school breakfasts for non-fee-paying primary and secondary schools, facilitates the construction and refurbishment of school kitchens and invests in building the capacity of volunteer food handlers who prepare these meals.

Delivering the breakfast programme is a collaborative effort involving district officials, school monitors, regional coordinators, school governing bodies and volunteer food handlers. Regional coordinators are full-time TBF employees, supported by part-time school monitors in some provinces. The same volunteer food handlers who prepare meals for the NSNP also handle the TBF breakfasts, receiving an additional stipend for this work.

Serving in-school breakfasts

The TBF in-school breakfast programme provides breakfast to 74 465 learners daily at 78 schools across all provinces. In 2024, the programme served 14 million breakfasts, bringing the cumulative total to 140 million since 2011.

Partnerships with The Star Foundation and Kathu Solar Park added eight and five schools to the programme, respectively, while 24 schools were transferred to the DBE's breakfast programme in the Eastern Cape.

Constructing and refurbishing school kitchens

School kitchens are vital to the programme, ensuring meals are prepared in hygienic conditions. In 2024, the TBF funded the construction of three kitchens at Kgwanyape Primary School, Madjaji Primary School and Masumpa Primary School, with a total investment of R2,7 million. Additionally, the kitchen at Phomolong Primary School was refurbished for R490 000. All participating schools received first aid kits and fire blankets, valued at R275 500.

Training food handlers

The TBF's training programme equips volunteer food handlers with essential skills in hygiene, safety, nutrition, food preparation, as well as entrepreneurship. The training is certified by City and Guilds and CATHSSETA and delivered through workshops. In 2024, 85 food handlers in Mpumalanga completed the programme, with a total investment of R652 000.

Research and advocacy

In 2024, the TBF made progress on several research projects to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of its programmes, focusing on training, nutrition, programme outcomes and sustainability practices.

• Volunteer food handler impact assessment: Conducted by Resilience Analysis Consulting, this study assessed the personal and economic impact of the volunteer food handler accredited training programme. Insights were shared with the DBE in June 2024.
• Anthropometric study – Mpumalanga: In collaboration with the Food Evolution Research Laboratory (FERL) at the University of Johannesburg, this ongoing longitudinal study examines the nutritional impact of the in-school breakfast programme on learners.
• Most significant change (MSC) evaluation: Data Innovators led an evaluation of the in-school breakfast programme, collecting stories of change from 21 schools across five provinces. Data analysis is currently underway.
• Food waste study: FERL is also conducting a study to identify and reduce food waste in the breakfast programme. Data collection began in July 2024 and the study is ongoing.