Super Group: A supply chain partner of choice for leading FMCG companies

Super Group, a company which was under enormous pressure a decade ago, has seen an impressive turnaround in the past nine years.The transport logistics and mobility group has since become one of the most impressive performers on the JSE, reporting solid revenue growth throughout the company despite challenging trading conditions in South Africa, Africa, Europe and the UK.

Part of its turnaround strategy – which included disposing of noncore and loss-making businesses – was to implement a comprehensive BBBEE strategy with the aim of empowering and benefiting the group’s black employees.Super Group’s efforts in this regard paid off last year when the group was awarded a level 1 BBBEE rating and ranked amongst the top 10 most empowered companies on the JSE by Empowerdex as well as the top performer in the listed transport sector. An added benefit of its Level 1 rating, says CEO Peter Mountford, is that the group is now well positioned for new business development as a leading empowered supply chain service provider.

Super Group’s extensive supply chain expertise as well as its significant warehousing and distribution footprint throughout southern Africa and cross border services means the company is ideally positioned to act as a springboard for multinational organisations wishing to expand their business interests into African markets.

The group’s Supply Chain Africa division delivers an end-to-end supply chain solution by integrating a number of its business units in order to deliver a seamless service.Operating primarily between South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, DRC and Mozambique, its services include supply chain optimisation, consulting, technology, procurement, third-party distribution, transport, multi-temperature controlled product distribution, bulk raw material transportation, warehousing, inbound and outbound freight forwarding, customs clearing, import and export consolidation, international airfreight services and bonded cross-border transport.

The division also offers brand management and integrated distribution to the national convenience market and is able to aggregate loads across customers and manage backhaul capacity to optimise route networks and reduce supply chain system costs.

SG Consumer – the group’s main FMCG warehousing and distribution company – operates from five sites positioned around the country and delivers both FMCG products as well as food, confectionary, personal hygiene, homeware and pharmaceutical products to around 3 500 different delivery points in both the top end retail as well as wholesale categories.

The group currently works with a number of leading FMCG companies including Mondelez, Pioneer Foods, RCL Foods, Premier Foods, Vital Health Foods, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Suntory, Oceana Brands, Corner Bakery, aQuelle, McDonalds, KFC, King Pie and Pizza Hut, reports Mountford.

Through SG Convenience, the largest national distributor in the convenience distribution market segment, Super Group offers a specialised centralised warehousing service for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) including logistical transport of these goods to their relevant destinations.Its national network includes distribution centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Nelspruit, Port Elizabeth, East London and George.

SG Convenience’s services includes sourcing high quality brands and products, warehousing these products, packaging orders to clients and then delivering them within a 24-hour period, essentially acting as a link between manufacturer, supplier, customer and retailer and ensuring that the communication and delivery process is a smooth and efficient one.

SG Convenience distributes to over 23 000 outlets including forecourts, convenience stores, hospitals, hotels, restaurant and fast food franchises, schools, gyms, golf clubs, canteens and even down to Spaza shops around the country.

According to Mountford, SG Convenience is the only genuine multi-temperature convenience distribution company in South Africa. “We offer customers all three defined temperature categories including frozen, chilled and ambient in one delivery,” he reveals.

Super Group’s end-to-end supply chain solution is completed by SG Gateway, a division which takes responsibility for stock ownership at the point of transfer from the manufacturer to Super Group. “Essentially what this means is that we take full responsibility for debtor collections in order to free working capital from the supply chain, as well as all other elements of a traditional supply chain model including sales and merchandising,” explains Mountford.