Fast-moving consumer goods manufacturer Tiger Brands has announced its plans to upgrade its aerosol factory with two new production lines, which will be up and running by October.

The company is investing R178-million to introduce two new fully automated lines and increase production capacity of signature brands such as Airoma and Doom.

During a media tour of its Home and Personal Care (HPC) business and its three factories on one site, based in Isando, Gauteng, on April 13, Tiger Brands informed Engineering News that it had also spent R50-million to upgrade its warehouse, including modifications to the roofing structure, lighting, sprinkler system and floors.

The company has spent R632-million since 2016 on various facility upgrades and projects, including the installation of solar panels that currently provide 400 W of solar capacity a day for the HPC plant.

HPC plant manager Cleon Naicker says the solar panels at the HPC plant have already resulted in an 11% saving on municipal electricity usage, since its installation in March.

In addition to using solar power at HPC, Tiger Brands also has various initiatives in place to improve energy efficiency, including using natural lighting through skylights, and water-saving initiatives through installed water tanks.

Overall, the group aims to reduce its energy intensity by 30% by 2030 and its greenhouse-gas emissions by 45% by 2030, before reaching net zero by 2050.

On-site solar or power purchasing arrangements will be enacted at 35 of Tiger Brands’ manufacturing sites across South Africa by 2030.

The HPC business is currently focused on driving profit growth in the sub-Saharan Africa region, particularly by leveraging four global trends in developing products suited to the modern consumer. The trends include health and wellbeing, individuality and expression, naturality and sustainability, and affordability and ease of access.

HPC marketing manager Lungelwa Moagi elaborates that Covid-19 had enhanced consumers’ awareness on hygiene and germs, as well as overall wellness in the home, while young people strive to use products that speak to their individuality and expression.

Globally, consumers are preferring brands that have environmental protection and sustainability in mind and, therefore, Tiger Brands has carefully considered the simplification of products’ formulations, the recyclability of its packaging and its green footprint overall.

On the topic of making products easier to access and more affordable, Tiger Brands has continuously considered products’ size offerings and often launches larger sizes to effect a cheaper rand-per-millilitre price for consumers, as well as smaller sizes for consumers who wish to have ‘travel sizes’ of products.

The HPC business includes 18 brands, including Doom, Peaceful Sleep, Jeyes, Airoma, Ingram’s, Dolly Varden, Perfect Touch, No Hair and Status.

The three factories comprise an aerosol plant producing 42 stock keeping units (SKUs) of pest and air care aerosols, at a rate of 64-million units a year; a black fluid plant producing nine SKUs of disinfectant, at a rate of 7.8-million units a year; and a personal care plant that produces 172 SKUs, at a rate of 45-million units a year.

Tiger Brands has been producing some of its brands for multiple decades, including its oldest brand Jeyes, which was established in 1934. Other prolific brands such as Ingram’s, Airoma and Doom were established in 1957, 1958 and 1961, respectively.