Page 23 - KZN Leaders Portfolio E-BOOK 2107

Managing Director at Frimax Foods to move forward more rapidly. I have learnt not be
disappointed if the first meeting with a client does not
BDOOL KADER (BABOO) ESSA joined go your way and to always be hopeful.”
his father, Haroon Essa, at Frimax Foods,
straight after completing his matric. He was While Baboo Essa has always dreamt of growing
A told by his family that he would “attend Frimax bigger, the increasing demand for their
university at Frimax”, their family owned business. products has taken him by surprise. The brothers are
His brothers, Shamir and Faizel Essa, also joined the now at a point that in order to grow the company
business after they completed their schooling. further, they would require larger factory premises.
Apart from the national footprint, Frimax exports to
Established by Haroon Essa in 1982, Frimax has been various African countries and Indian Ocean islands
in operation for 35 years. Based on humble beginnings through different channels.
in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, Frimax has grown
from strength to strength and is now considered one of Baboo Essa says that he and his brothers learn every
the fastest growing potato and corn snack companies day in the business. “Frimax spends a lot of time in
in South Africa. research and development, a recent challenge has
been complying with salt regulations that has required
Baboo Essa said, “As a family owned business, there the use of replacement flavours, which are more
was a need to learn all aspects of the business and so expensive – we are still trying to get the Mexican Chilli
I was not put into any particular division. However, I flavour right.”
found marketing interesting and got involved in visiting
clients and selling the product for the retail market.” He commented that the South African population is
During his school years, he had already spent time on getting more educated and is changing. Consumers are
the factory floor after school – supervising the dispatch more health conscious and affordability is always an
of goods and loading on to trucks, reading consumer issue especially when it comes to snacks.
mail and assessing call logs, even working as a “An important aspect of the business is offering
machinery operator, and frying potatoes. He has since clients value, which is why we have never decreased
taken on the role of managing director of the business the size of our portions and still sell 150 gram packets.
and keeps an eye on the company’s finances. A lot of our product is sold in rural areas, so it is
important to provide a product that is both filling
When he started at Frimax, the company was
supplying a housebrand to a larger retailer and and affordable.”
he was proud of their achievements. However, he The company has a loyal range of customers in
said, “But after receiving a negative response to the KwaZulu-Natal, and in the Free State where Frimax is
housebrand from a consumer columnist, we decided considered the second best snack brand.
to change our strategy, stop their production, and Frimax has embraced the concept of continuous
concentrate on getting our own brands into stores. improvement within its production facility, and has
Initially, as an eighteen year old, this was very constantly strived to increase product quality, whilst at
disappointing for me, but I realised we needed to the same time reducing overhead costs. The company
start batting for our own wicket.”
also attempts to reduce its carbon foot print on all
At that time Baboo Essa was also required to meet levels. As far as possible, natural gas is utilised in
with a major buyer in Cape Town. He said that he was the production plant to fire up the fryers, ovens and
really disheartened, when after eating a whole packet burners, as opposed to the use of electricity or diesel.
of Frimax chips, the client said that he was not going to Baboo Essa concluded by saying that snack foods
stock their products at that time. However, said Essa, is an exciting industry to be in and that the highlights
the sales representative, who had accompanied him on of his business career has been in receiving business
the visit, said that he was not to worry.
awards and recognition. Frimax has receive the
“Soon afterwards, I was hugely excited to obtain Shoprite Checkers Best National Supplier Award
a half a million rand order, which even by today’s repeatedly, and an Institute for Quality award
standards was huge. From that point on we started recognising its contribution to skills development.

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