One of Germany’s largest adhesives makers Henkel has announced its grand entry into the local adhesives market by partnering a local distributor, Cluster Diagnostics in a mutually beneficial deal earmarked to propel product volumes locally.
The Dusseldorf headquartered group will have special focus on provision of industrial adhesive solutions in the country.
The Adhesives for Consumers, Craftsmen and Building segment offers products for private users, craftsmen, and construction industry based on international brand platforms, namely Loctite, Pritt, Pattex and Ceresit.
“Cluster Diagnostics is officially a Henkel premium partner. Effectively they are an extension of Henkel and will represent us fully in Zimbabwe, they will have full access to update marketing and innovation material,” said Henkel representative Trevor Bolton at the launch of the partnership in Harare yesterday.
Cluster Diagnostics has already laid the ground work in the country having started trials late last year to warm-up prospective customers.
Among other responsibilities outside marketing, Cluster Diagnostics shall also keep stock locally for distribution for urgent need.
“We started doing trials some time last year and as of now we have already got about 3-4 customers who have come on board. So the trial results have been extremely successful,’ said Cluster Diagnostics business development manager Siphiwe Mthembu.
Local industrial giants, Varun Beverages and Delta Corporation are some of the target customers for glue used in packaging of beverages.
However, given the uniqueness of the Zimbabwean market which is highly informal, the distributor said its business strategy is flexible enough to do business with all customers albeit within legal frameworks.
“We are quite flexible to do business with any customers obviously we need to make sure everything is within the legal framework. In terms of how informal the customer is that is an administrative stuff that will have to discuss and deal with to align it with the way that we want to do business but we are very flexible and open to do business with anyone,” added Mthembu.
He added that up to a moment where volume demands in the interior necessitate a plant in Zimbabwe, Henkel’s South African manufacturing facility will serve the local market as well as the entire southern African region.
Henkel has been in existence for a century and is present in 79 countries across the globe. In 2021 it recorded sales amounting to 20.1 billion Euros with an operating profit of 2.7 billion Euros.
