Six decades of supporting local and regional farmers with equipment that works as hard as they do.
Big Dutchman South Africa celebrates 60 years
On Friday, 3 July, Big Dutchman South Africa marked a big milestone. BDSA turned 60.
Sixty years ago BDSA opened its doors with one goal: help farmers produce food more efficiently. Six decades later that goal hasn’t changed, even if almost everything else has. We’ve gone from basic poultry equipment to full climate-controlled housing systems. From a handful of local clients to a footprint that stretches across Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and the wider SADC region.
It’s easy to reduce 60 years to a number on a cake. The real story is in what happened along the way. Over six decades, farming across South Africa and the wider region has changed enormously, from manual, labour-intensive systems to automated housing, feeding and climate control. BDSA equipment has been part of that shift, supporting broiler producers as they scaled up, layer operations as they modernised, and pig farms as they adopted group housing and precision feeding.
Equipment is only half the story. The other half is the people behind it, on the ground, understanding what producers are dealing with day to day and being there when it matters. That’s the relationship BDSA has tried to build with clients for 60 years, and it’s what turns a first-time buyer into a client for life.
The growth beyond South Africa’s borders is part of that same story. Over the years BDSA’s footprint has extended into Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and other SADC markets, each with its own needs and its own relationships to build. That growth has followed farmers looking for the same reliable equipment and support that clients in South Africa have come to expect.
None of this happens without people. Staff who’ve spent their careers at BDSA, some of them decades long, are the reason clients keep coming back. Suppliers and partners who’ve backed the business through good seasons and hard ones. And clients themselves, whose trust is really what’s being celebrated today. A business doesn’t reach 60 years old. Its relationships do.
The team gathered at our Gosforth Park offices in Germiston to celebrate the milestone. It was a chance to look back at how far the business has come, to thank the people who made it possible, and to look ahead at what the next chapter of BDSA looks like for farmers across South Africa and the region.
The celebration also brought some special guests into the BDSA family. Julius Hake, an intern from Big Dutchman Germany, joined the festivities, along with Bart Roels, Broiler Area Sales Manager from Big Dutchman Germany. We also welcomed Charles Ziwa, BDSA’s new Layer Sales Executive for Zimbabwe, marking the occasion as the perfect moment to officially join the team.
As a keepsake from the day, every staff member received a custom Big Dutchman 60th birthday K-Way bomber jacket, a small thank you for being part of six decades of BDSA history.
Here’s to the next 60.
