Urban Farmer (pty) Ltd

What Urban Farmer (pty) Ltd does

Urban Farmer (pty) Ltd is a South Africa-based B2B supplier of customized livestock nutrition premixes, feed additives, and complementary animal health and equipment products serving the African agricultural sector. Founded in 2009 by Steven Payne and headquartered in Centurion, the company formulates and manufactures macro premixes—concentrated blends of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes—designed for broilers, layers, breeders, dairy, beef, aquaculture, swine, and companion animals. Its formulations are tailored by in-house nutritionists to leverage locally available ingredients across diverse African production environments, supported by technical and sales teams that are physically present in each operating market.

The company serves three primary customer segments: feed mills and home-mixers requiring cost-effective bulk procurement of macro premixes; large-scale livestock integrations needing holistic nutrition, health, and hygiene solutions; and smallholder farmers, reached through the U-MIX sub-brand and the Proudly Poultry training initiative. Revenue is generated across four streams: macro premix sales (the core recurring line), feed additives and health products, livestock equipment and genetics, and paid consultancy, training, and laboratory analysis services. Pricing is quote-based and customized per client, with no publicly disclosed price list.

Urban Farmer operates in 20 African countries through wholly owned subsidiaries in Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, alongside its South African headquarters. It is part of the Urban Farmer Holdings group structure and has expanded its scope beyond premixes into vaccines, medicines, biosecurity products, equipment, and analytical services. Its U-MIX sub-brand extends reach into smallholder markets, including a recent expansion into Malawi via partnership with MAAG Farm.

Name

Urban Farmer (pty) Ltd

Legal name

Urban Farmer (pty) Ltd

Website

https://urban-farmer.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Urban Farmer (pty) Ltd is a South Africa-based B2B supplier of customized macro premixes, feed additives, and animal health products serving feed mills, livestock integrations, and smallholder farmers across 20 African countries through wholly owned subsidiaries and direct technical sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Animal Feed & Livestock Nutrition

NAICS

Other Animal Food Manufacturing (311119), Animal Food Manufacturing (3111)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000), Wholesale-Farm Product Raw Materials (5150)

akta.pro primary industry

Vitamin-Mineral (VM) Premixes (AFADAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Vitamin Premixes (AFADAGAA), Amino Acid Premixes & Concentrates (AFADAGAE), Organic Feed Premixes & Mineral/Vitamin Blends (AFADAJAG), Livestock & Poultry Nutrition (Feed & Premixes) (HLAMAHAD)

Keywords

• Livestock nutrition premixes
• Animal feed solutions
• Feed formulation services
• Feed additives supply
• Livestock health products

Headquarters

HQ city

Centurion

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Macro Premix Sales: Revenue generated from the formulation, manufacture and supply of customized macro premixes for livestock feed production. The company serves feed mills and home-mixers with cost-effective, hassle-free procurement of individual products or consolidated orders.
2. Feed Additives and Health Products: Sale of feed additives, vaccines, medicines, disinfectants, and detergents for livestock production. The company works with leading global feed additive suppliers and can source medicines and vaccines ensuring destination country legislative requirements.
3. Livestock Equipment: Supply of livestock equipment including hatching eggs, replacement gilts, incubators, dairy turnstiles, and genetics from partner companies in South Africa and abroad.
4. Consultancy and Training Services: Paid consulting and training services related to livestock nutrition, health, and management, including feed and ingredient analysis as a separate paid-for service.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Urban Farmer formulates, manufactures and supplies customized macro premixes for livestock feed production across all species including broilers, layers, breeders, beef, dairy, aqua, pigs and pets. The company also supplies feed additives, vaccines, medicines, disinfectants, livestock equipment and genetics, and offers paid diet design, feed formulation, ingredient analysis, and consultancy/training services.

Product overview

Urban Farmer is a B2B livestock nutrition company offering a portfolio of products and services centered on its core Macro Solutions platform. The Macro Solutions line provides customized macro premixes for all livestock species (broilers, layers, breeders, dairy, beef, aqua, pigs, and pets) as well as a comprehensive range of feed additives, vaccines, medicines, disinfectants, and equipment. Supporting the product portfolio, Urban Farmer offers services including product sourcing and supply, diet design and feed formulation, feed and ingredient analysis, and consulting and training. The company operates as part of the Urban Farmer Holdings group with subsidiaries across Africa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• U-MIX: Smallholder farmer empowerment program delivering feed solutions and training, distributed across multiple African countries including Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.
• Macro Solutions

Products and services

• Macro Solutions (Customized Macro Premixes) Customized macro premixes for the production of livestock feed, formulated by experienced nutritionists to specific production environments using available local ingredients while meeting nutrient and cost requirements. Sold to feed mills and home-mixers in Africa.
• Feed Additives

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 5,000 smallholder farmers trained through the Proudly Poultry campaign from July 2023 to February 2026
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• DeltamunecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2023Urban Farmer partnered with Deltamune and Phatisa for the Proudly Poultry campaign. From July 2023 to February 2026, the program trained more than 5,000 smallholder farmers across Africa in poultry production techniques.
• PhatisacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2023Urban Farmer partnered with Deltamune and Phatisa for the Proudly Poultry campaign. Phatisa serves as a partner in the initiative that delivered six-week production courses to farmers in Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Modern Ways LimitedminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner organization representing Urban Farmer at Commercial Layer Farmers Day events in Kenya, along with Pharmsave Limited.
• Pharmsave LimitedminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner organization representing Urban Farmer at Commercial Layer Farmers Day events in Kenya alongside Modern Ways Limited.
• MAAG FarmminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCollaboration partner for U-MIX distribution expansion into Malawi, bringing accessible, high-quality nutrition solutions to farmers in the region.
• Isibaya HoldingscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubsidiary within the Urban Farmer Holdings group of companies, providing support for operations in South Africa.
• UFLS (Urban Farmer Livestock Solutions Zambia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubsidiary company in Zambia providing local transactional and technical support to customers.
• UFNG (Urban Farmer Nigeria)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubsidiary company in Nigeria providing local transactional and technical support to customers.
• UFU (Urban Farmer Uganda)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubsidiary company in Uganda providing local transactional and technical support to customers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• AFGRI Animal Feeds: South African-based feed manufacturer (part of AFGRI Group) supplying compounded feed and premixes to the South African and broader African livestock industry. Comparable as a domestic competitor targeting feed mills, integrators, and farmers with multi-species nutrition.
• De Heus Animal Nutrition: Dutch-origin animal feed and premix manufacturer with major operations across Africa (including South Africa). Directly comparable as a B2B supplier of customized premixes and complete feeds to African feed mills and integrations across multiple species.

Broad incumbents

• Astral Foods: Leading South African integrated poultry producer with own feed milling operations (Meadow Feeds). Comparable as a vertically integrated African poultry-feed player, though it competes across the value chain rather than as a pure premix specialist.
• DSM-Firmenich (Animal Nutrition & Health): Global premix and feed additive company supplying vitamins, minerals, and premix solutions to feed mills worldwide, including Africa. Comparable as a leading multinational whose vitamins/minerals are likely among the inputs Urban Farmer sources and reformulates.
• Kemin Industries: Global manufacturer of feed additives, premixes, and animal nutrition solutions with operations in Africa. Comparable as a supplier of nutritive and non-nutritive additives and premixes that Urban Farmer distributes alongside its own macro premixes.
• Novus International: Global animal nutrition and health company with feed additives and premix products distributed across Africa. Comparable as a multinational competitor for feed additive and premix business with feed mills and integrations in Africa.
• Cargill Animal Nutrition: Global agribusiness with substantial premix and complete feed operations and an active African distribution footprint. Comparable as a multinational supplier competing for the same African feed-mill and integrator customers.
• Alltech: Global animal nutrition company producing premixes, feed additives, and specialty ingredients with strong presence in Africa through subsidiaries and distributors. Comparable as a multinational competitor in the African premix and additive market.
• Nutreco (Trouw Nutrition): Global animal nutrition company with premix, feed additive, and specialty feed lines and growing African presence. Comparable as a multinational competitor in customized premixes and animal health products for multi-species livestock markets.

Regional players

• Country Bird Holdings: South African integrated poultry group with operations in South Africa, Zambia, and other African markets. Comparable as an African poultry integration that Urban Farmer supplies with macro premixes; an important potential customer segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/UrbanFarmerPtyLtd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urban-farmer-pty-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urban Farmer (pty) Ltd