About Us

THE HISTORY OF THE SPROUT

We thrive on growth. Our roots (and the Logo) goes back to 1990 when we started farming. Just two young men with boundless energy and a willingness to learn. We wanted to grow. We sat down and planned – we needed a logo or symbol to to keep us directional. We discussed the journey we were embarking on. As young farmers then our world revolved about growth, about bursting with energy, about the newness of the venture we were starting. We were ready. We came up with our fountain sprout – it represented an inextinguishable source of life. The sprout still represents that today. And we still live like that today. It is all about growth – personal growth – business growth – community growth. Some say it’s a maize tassle, others a rice seedling, others say it’s a fountain. We don’t mind – today it is many things to many people and that is good.
Come grow with us.

Our Team

Justin Vermaak

CEO

The founder and CEO of SAS has a long history of doing the impossible and making it look easy. He has followed his distinguished 10-year SF military career with 28 years in Agri-Business. In this period, he has won wide spread recognition for his ground-breaking development in financial farming models. He is also co-owner of award winning Cathedral Peak Wine Estate. In KZN – a project that has turned the world of wine on it’’s head. He leads the group and ensures the adaptive mindset is positioned correctly.

John Pieters

Senior Trader

Resident in Mauritius John heads up the trade portfolio. His service with the group is now over 22 years. He has steered the trading desk for the bulk of this period. He was part of the team that pioneered the start-up of the AMD leg of SAFEX His blend of knowledge and trading acumen augments the team’s ability to manage price exposure be it on farmer, trader or off-taker level. He currently heads up the energy desk and has been assigned to the project for pricing support.

Steve Vlok

Chief Commercial Officer

Steve is a Forward-looking Value Creation Specialist with 27 years’ experience in the banking industry. In this stellar career he headed up Investment portfolios and spend many years as head of risks at banks. As a strategic professional he strives to Preserve Value and exploit opportunities to Create Value. This ensures strategic objectives are realized in an efficient and effective manner. In his rolecritical thinking, attention to detail, people development and being able to see the ‘big picture’ is the cornerstone of innovative ways in Value Creation. With a love and respect for nature, this drives the inner passion to do things the correct way without compromise and to build up others constructively whilst ensuring relationships are mutually beneficial for sustained high performance.