PHOTO: Mervyn Moodley(2nd from right) with the rest of the Safrique team
Mervyn’s career in the plastics industry started with SANS Fibres where he was involved in PET sales into Africa. He left SANS Fibres to start Safrique, but continued to be an agent for SANS in the Africa market.
He and his marketing team are probably some of the best-travelled individuals in the industry as they spend nearly 60% of the year visiting customers and suppliers in East, West, Central and Northern Africa, as well as Europe and Asia.
To ensure that customers’ needs are satisfied and to remain competitive in an increasingly demanding industry, Safrique sources materials from local manufacturers and also facilitates international cross trading between Africa and Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Safrique has recently acquired the agency with the Austrian company, NGR Recycling Machines to market and supply their equipment for South Africa and other African markets.
“Over the years we have built on our excellent customer relations and market intelligence in order to keep up with the ever changing needs of our customers,” said Mervyn.
Safrique’s presence at various trade shows and events across the continent also ensures that it maintains top-of-mind awareness with existing and potential customers. It has exhibited at plastics and packaging exhibitions in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Germany and China. Locally, Safrique is a regular exhibitor at Propak Africa. Later this year Safrique will also be exhibiting at ChinaPlas, K2016 in Germany and other Propak exhibitions in East and West Africa.
The organisation has a fully-fledged team at its Rivonia offices in Gauteng, made up of marketing, logistics and distribution, with warehousing facilities in Durban and Gauteng.
Furthermore, Safrique has an R&D facility which has been very successful in developing specialty products to meet individual customer requirements. Safrique recently also commissioned a laboratory for polymer testing.
“Safrique has a highly motivated team and local representatives in strategic markets that are passionate about doing business in Africa, despite the challenges they face,” said Mervyn.
“I and my team want to thank our suppliers, service providers and customers for their loyalty over the years and look forward to their continued support,” he added.