Project SunRise Oils Business Plan › Section 7 › Operations Plan

7.1 Process Flow Overview

The Company operates a continuous-process manufacturing platform with
five distinct stages: (1) seed receiving and storage, (2) preparation
and conditioning, (3) crushing and oil extraction, (4) refining
(neutralisation, bleaching, deodorisation, or NBD), and (5) bottling and
packaging. Each stage is fully traceable through a digital plant-control
system, and quality checkpoints (CCPs) are applied at twelve discrete
points across the chain.

Stage 1 — Seed Receiving and Storage

Sunflower seed is received from contracted farmers and silo-network
partners during the harvest window (typically February through June).
Inbound seed is sampled and graded against SANS standards on arrival,
with key parameters measured including moisture (target ≤ 9.5%), foreign
matter (≤ 2%), oil content (target ≥ 38%), and damaged kernels. Stored
capacity post-expansion totals 60,000 MT across multiple silos,
providing approximately 65 days of seed inventory at full operational
rate.

Stage 2 — Preparation and Conditioning

Pre-treatment includes cleaning to remove residual stones and trash,
cracking and dehulling to lift oil yield, conditioning to control
temperature and moisture, and flaking to expose seed cells for efficient
extraction. Each step has a direct yield-impact and is automated to
minimise variability.

Stage 3 — Crushing and Oil Extraction

The Company employs a hybrid expeller-and-solvent extraction
architecture. Mechanical expellers extract approximately 75% of total
oil; the residual cake is then solvent-extracted (using food-grade
hexane) for a final extraction rate of approximately 38% (in line with
the South African industry benchmark). Solvent recovery and
de-solventising is engineered to ISO 9001 standards. Sunflower oilcake
(the by-product) is desolventised, toasted, and despatched to
feed-industry customers.

Stage 4 — Refining (NBD)

Crude oil enters the refining process where free fatty acids (FFA)
are removed through caustic neutralisation, colour pigments are removed
by bleaching with activated earth, and odour-and-flavour compounds are
removed through high-vacuum steam deodorisation. Final refined oil is
held in stainless-steel tanks under nitrogen blanket, ready for either
bulk despatch (B2B) or bottling (B2C).

Stage 5 — Bottling and Packaging

Two new bottling lines (5,000 and 12,000 bottles per hour) handle the
full retail SKU range — 750 ml, 2 L, and 5 L PET bottles. Labels, caps,
and case-packaging are inline. A separate filling line handles 20 L
jerricans and 1,000 L flexi-tanks for industrial customers.

7.2 Capacity & Throughput Plan

7.3 Plant Layout & Site Plan

The expanded operating site sits on a 24-hectare plot, with the
layout designed to optimise inbound seed truck flow, internal materials
handling, and outbound finished-goods despatch. Key zones include: (i)
inbound seed reception and weighbridge, (ii) silo storage block (60 kt
total capacity), (iii) crushing and extraction plant, (iv) refining
tower and tank farm, (v) bottling and packaging hall, (vi)
finished-goods warehouse, (vii) administration and laboratory block, and
(viii) on-site solar PV (8 MW carport-and-rooftop).

7.4 Equipment & Technology

7.5 Procurement & Supply Chain

Sunflower seed procurement is the most material upstream activity.
The Company aggregates seed through three channels: (i) direct
multi-year offtake contracts with commercial farmers (60% of volume
target), (ii) co-operative-and-silo-network partnerships (30%), and
(iii) spot purchases through SAFEX or open-market trades (10%).
Contracted prices include a SAFEX-linked floor with optional upside
participation, providing farmers a baseline income while protecting the
Company against extreme price spikes.

Other key procurement categories include hexane (food-grade solvent),
caustic soda and citric acid (refining chemicals), bleaching earth,
packaging materials (PET preforms, caps, labels, cardboard), and energy.
Each category has at least two qualified suppliers to mitigate
concentration risk.

7.6 Quality Assurance and Food Safety

The Company maintains an integrated food safety management system
aligned to FSSC 22000, ISO 9001, ISO 22000, and HACCP principles. Twelve
Critical Control Points (CCPs) are operated across the value chain, with
daily, weekly and monthly testing protocols administered by the in-house
laboratory.

7.7 Sustainability & ESG

Energy & Carbon

The 8 MW on-site solar PV array supplies an estimated 35–40% of the
plant’s annual electricity demand under base solar resource assumptions,
eliminating approximately 11,500 tCO₂e per annum. Heat-recovery from the
deodorisation and solvent-recovery systems reduces steam demand by 18%,
further lowering both operating cost and emissions.

Water

Process-water consumption is targeted at 0.8 kL per MT of refined
oil, against a sector benchmark of 1.2 kL/MT. The plant operates a
closed-loop cooling-water system and a bio-treatment plant for process
effluent, fully compliant with the National Water Act.

Social

The expansion creates approximately 380 direct jobs and 950 indirect
jobs across logistics, farming and the supplier chain. The Company
commits to dedicating at least 4% of payroll to skills development under
the Skills Development Levies Act, prioritising agronomy,
process-engineering and food-safety apprenticeship pipelines for
community participants.

Governance

ESG performance is governed at Board level via the Sustainability
& ESG Committee. Key KPIs (Scope 1 and 2 emissions, water intensity,
LTIFR, B-BBEE level, supplier-localisation %) are reported quarterly to
the Board and annually in an integrated report aligned with GRI and IFRS
S1/S2 standards.

Confidential — this business plan is provided to prospective investors and lenders for evaluation purposes only and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written consent of Project SunRise Oils (Pty) Ltd.