GREIF: Customer-Driven Packaging Innovation with Purpose
Exploding from humble beginnings in Cleveland, Ohio into a global footprint across more than 40 countries and 200-plus locations, Greif is a global leader in industrial packaging products and services. Sales Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Lundi Mbokodi, tells Enterprise Africa how the company is tailoring solutions to solve specific problems on the continent, as it pursues its vision to be the best customer service in the world.
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Founded in 1877 by Charles Greif and partner Albert Vanderwys as a small cooperage business producing wooden barrels, Greif has evolved into one of the world’s largest suppliers of industrial packaging products and services and a global leader, with over 14,000 employees worldwide.
On offer at Greif is a broad portfolio of industrial packaging solutions designed to deliver performance, safety and sustainability. These products are used to transport and store chemicals, food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, lubricants and other industrial materials, with a product portfolio which spans steel, fibre and plastic drums, intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), jerrycans, small plastic containers and closure systems. A diverse portfolio of services and subsidiaries, including container management, logistics and reconditioning, further enables the organisation to be with its customers throughout their packaging journey.
“With a strong focus on innovation and sustainability, Greif aims to help customers reduce their environmental impact and improve their supply chain efficiency,” the company states. “We are present in over 40 countries and are committed to delivering high-quality products and services to our customers.” Put simply: “it’s the Greif Way.”
SUSTAINED GROWTH
Sub-Saharan Africa forms a key part of Greif’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operating region and represents a strategically important growth market, as industrial production and chemical supply chains continue to expand across the continent. Regional operations are anchored primarily in South Africa and East Africa, enabling it to serve manufacturing, chemical and agricultural industries across the continent.
“You won’t see us on the shelves,” explains Sales Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Lundi Mbokodi, with the company content to be a critical component safely away from the limelight. “Instead, we are busy in the background moving bulk products between companies. We play across many, many industry segments, and we touch an exhaustive scope of manufacturing enterprises, supporting these people and businesses with moving their goods safely.”
Greif’s South African growth has been inextricably linked to contemporary trends within the territory, according to Mbokodi. “Greif has experienced consistent growth in South Africa by focusing on specific segments alongside the country’s own dvelopment,” he reports. ”The food and agricultural sectors, for example, have witnessed incredible growth, and we have, ourselves, kept apace with this boom.” An increase in commodity prices has entailed a similar upturn in fortunes in the mining sector, Mbokodi adds, underpinned by significantly bigger demand particularly in chemical mining industry. These sectors are also driving increased demand for packaging that can meet stringent safety, performance, and regulatory requirements.
“As a business we have grown not purely as a result of organic growth, but also on an acquisition basis,” he shares. “Previously in South Africa we had two primary manufacturing facilities – one in Vanderbijlpark and one in Mobeni and together, these formed the backbone of our South African business, supplying industrial containers used by sectors such as petrochemicals, lubricants, chemicals and paints.”
Greif’s 2023 acquisition of global specialist Ipackchem Group expanded its footprint to three sites, bringing an advanced plastic blow-molding facility in Lanseria into the fold – a move that significantly strengthens Greif’s capabilities in high-performance barrier packaging, critical for safely transporting sensitive and regulated products. “These capabilities are particularly important in sectors such as agrochemicals and chemicals, where product integrity, compliance and safety are essential,” Mbokodi notes.
“We have succeeded in getting ourselves onto a new foundation much stronger than it would have been, say, five years ago.”
CUSTOMER-DRIVEN
Now six and a half years into his tenure in the packaging sector, Mbokodi explains that this was a natural transition, and one which has been richly rewarding. “I was originally working in engineering energy, before moving into the fine chemicals space,” he details. “I came into my current position because some of the products we used there were, in fact, Greif packaging, which was my initial introduction to the company. It has been a terribly exciting time, and I have grown a lot within this space largely due to the opportunities afforded to me here. I find the packaging space quite thrilling, and I am still learning new things all the time.”
Greif’s own plans and aims match this sense of excitement, and ambition, with growth targeted further into the African continent and innovative technologies and solutions constantly abounding. “We have exposure to East, Central and West Africa currently, and we also have another plant in Mombassa, Kenya, that serves the East African region,” Mbokodi details. “But we also have specific product lines designed to service the sub-Saharan African market, like our Knock Down Drums (KDD),” he says.
“This innovation was sparked by a specific operational challenge, brought to us by a customer, for which traditional packaging wasn’t sufficient,” Mbokodi describes. “The result is a powerful example of how we partner with our customers to solve real-world challenges, going beyond standard packaging to create tailored, forward-thinking solutions in the African context.” Through a collaborative development process, Greif engineers, operations teams and commercial partners devised a steel drum designed to be shipped in a knocked-down, flat-packed format and assembled closer to the point of use. This approach not only improves logistics efficiency and transport complexity but also helps reduce carbon footprint and logistic costs of the entire supply chain.
“We are also continuing to expand our barrier packaging capabilities, and agrochemicals is also an important focus area for us in terms of growth,” Mbokodi describes. “South African farmers have excelled themselves in the last couple of years, and as a result the food industry has improved markedly. On the back of that, moving the chemicals to treat the cops in this whole value chain is a big opportunity for us and our high performance barrier packaging solutions.”
Greif’s long-term strategy in Africa is increasingly shaped by the twin priorities of sustainability and innovation, Mbokodi makes clear. “We are continuing to advance our sustainability commitment, by way of a circular economy and sustainable packaging, especially that which includes Post-Consumer Resin. We are doing a lot of work to integrate more PCR into our products and helping customers meet their own sustainability goals.”
As industrial activity and cross-border trade continue to expand across Africa, Greif is positioning its regional operations at the intersection of sustainability and innovation, while never deviating from its bid to be the best customer service company in the world. “We want to do our part to ensure a bright future for many generations to come,” Mbokodi finishes. “Above all else, protecting our future, through sustainable products and acting as environmental stewards, informs everything we do and everything we are as Greif.
“For Greif, the goal is simple: to help move Africa’s industries forward, safely, efficiently and responsibly.”