Frigoglass Group CEO in Business Focus Magazine

COOL PROSPECTS

FRIGOGLASS, A LEADING BEVERAGE INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS PROVIDER, IS MOVING FORWARD WITH INNOVATIVE OFFERINGS, READY TO EXPAND ITS GLOBAL FOOTING.

PROJECT MANAGED BY: HAYDEN TURNER

Greece-headquartered Frigoglass Group has a clear vision: to be the leading supplier of cooling and glass packaging solutions, unifying innovation, sustainability, and unmatched quality. With five decades of history, Frigoglass is today a global group with a diversified portfolio of products and services that develops pioneering coolers and advanced glass packaging solutions and delivers top-class services across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The business operates in four verticals – the oldest being glass containers, a wide operation that includes the production of crates and metal crowns for the beverage sector across the company’s three plants in Nigeria.

The second Frigoglass offering covers commercial coolers produced in the company’s best-in-class manufacturing facilities in Romania, Russia, South Africa, India, and Indonesia. In addition, the company also offers top-quality asset performance services via Frigoserve. And through its Norcool brand, added via strategic acquisition, Frigoglass Group supplies consumer appliances such as cooling rooms and units, refrigerated corners and drawers, and wine cabinets.

Over the years, the Group has developed a truly global presence, becoming a strategic partner of choice for the world’s top beverage brands, and operating nine best-in-class production facilities. Unmatched quality and reliability, serving a diverse and balanced mix of customers, and setting the industry standard for excellence have made Frigoglass a leader in its sector.

Business Focus spoke to Frigoglass Group’s new CEO, Serge Joris, who assumed his role as recently as February this year with the goal to further leverage the company’s profound experience and legacy of innovation, quality, global production network and customer relationships towards profitable growth.

“Since I began my tenure at Frigoglass Group, I’ve been meeting our various teams across facilities and geographies. And I’ve been impressed by their passion, commitment and talent, which thrills and excites me – because I consider people a pillar as fundamental as quality in our operations.”

“Following conversations with customers, suppliers and distributors, we’ve identified and are ready to implement new winning strategies. We’re keen to expand our footprint in south-eastern Asia, by increasing both our channels of distribution and customers and by expanding Frigoglass activities, making the most of our facilities in Africa, India and Indonesia.”

Similarly, the company is set to further enhance its position in Europe – last year, Frigoglass inaugurated its state-of-the-art commercial coolers plant in Timisoara, Romania. The strategically located plant boasts a high degree of automation to produce higher-end and higher-performance coolers to meet demand in the future, says Joris.

“We’re witnessing acceleration towards more energy-efficient solutions not only in Europe, driven by EU and national commitments stemming from the Green Deal agenda, but also in the Asian and African markets. And that makes us confident that our sustainable product development strategy is applicable across global operations.”

SUSTAINABLE PROGRESS

Innovation is an integral part of the company’s DNA and Frigoglass has introduced many ‘firsts’ to the market. The most recent example, launched a few months ago in Europe, is the first complete range of Class B energy-rated commercial coolers – which consume less energy than a light bulb over 24 hours. Frigoglass is the only company with a Class B range currently in production and aims at bringing Class A products to the market as well.

The company can also be proud of a different kind of achievement– last year it was awarded the Platinum EcoVadis distinction with a record 86% rating across all four ESG categories, placing Frigoglass in the top 1% of companies worldwide in manufacturing industry for general-purpose machinery.

“Sustainable practices, energy efficiency, and overall ESG goals are critical for us, woven into the core of our organisation,” affirms Joris. “Which is why we’re so very proud of our Platinum EcoVadis certificate. We’ve been top-rated by EcoVadis for seven consecutive years and are currently the sole recipients of a Platinum distinction among our industry peers.”

He further adds that the company’s robust short- and long-term emission targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the goal being to achieve Net Zero by 2050. “These accolades do not make us complacent. On the contrary, they push us to do better and outdo ourselves year after year, maintaining our sustainability leadership position and driving relevant developments in our sector.”

TRANSFORMING THE BUSINESS FOR FUTURE NEEDS

The Frigoglass Group CEO notes that while the company is ready to embrace new opportunities, there are also internal tasks at hand. “We focus on solidifying our corporate culture and successfully concluding our digital and business transformation. Corporate culture is a brand in itself and it must be maintained, cherished and shared with every member of the 5,000-strong Frigoglass team.”

“Digital transformation is a necessary process for any modern company to thrive,” he further affirms. “In my experience, a key component of digital transformation is listening intently to market trends to correctly identify customer pain points and demands; tailor digital solutions to address and anticipate market needs; and deliver ahead of the competition.”

“In that context, it is important to assess the entire ecosystem of our customers, i.e. the world’s biggest beverage brands, as they’re using our coolers to communicate with their consumers, and understanding consumer behaviour and trends allows us to continue innovating our products. Which means going beyond technological innovation and deepening the interaction with our audience, by developing software and smartphone applications to communicate with end-users.”

“In terms of business transformation, there is a clear plan to take Frigoglass Group to the next level in every way – operations, finances, and market position. Specifically, we aim to maximize our global manufacturing footprint and enhance our presence in the high-growth emerging markets of India, south-eastern Asia, northern and western Africa.”

Serge Joris also states that going forward, each business unit will develop under its own strategy. Regarding coolers, for example, innovation is the key pillar; while for glass containers the focus will be on geographical expansion, supported by continuous investment in technology. “The key aspect of Frigoglass Group’s strategy for growth is centred on ‘value creation’ for our customers, our people, our partners, and society at large.”

“I perceive the concepts of development and expansion in more ways than one. It can be geographical, financial, investment in new technologies, innovation and human resources, capacity expansion in operating plants, and so on. The key to success is to go for the very best option, or combination of options, at the most opportune time. And we’re currently focusing on identifying that sweet spot.”