Sidel has expanded its presence in Africa with the opening of a new office in Nairobi, Kenya. The move increases its support for its customers in East Africa, a key market for Sidel and one of the continent’s fastest-growing regions.

Sidel has been serving the African market for many years. Building on this, the new East Africa office will enable it to drive development in the region by working more closely with customers to provide them with dedicated engineering capability and on-the-ground customer service.

“East Africa continues to show impressive market growth in Sidel’s core business areas of beverages, food, home and personal care packaging,” says Vishal Gupta, Managing Director for Sidel Services East Africa. “This is more than an office, it’s a symbol of our commitment to the African market, to our customers and to developing the skilled local engineering and operational talent pool.“

The East Africa region is made up of 15 countries, from Eritrea in the north to the island of Mauritius. Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia have some of the highest levels of GDP and disposable income growth on the continent, indicating significant potential for years to come.

The new Sidel office, which was officially opened on 28th July, is located in the heart of Nairobi’s central business district alongside sister company TetraPak as well as the African head offices of other international companies.

Africa is home to the world’s youngest and fastest-urbanising population and has the potential to become one of the major sources of global growth. At more than one billion, sub-Saharan Africa’s population is currently growing at around 2.7 % a year – more than twice as fast as South Asia and Latin America.

‘Hive’ will address major global food system challenges

Unilever has invested €85m in the new center, named ‘Hive’ for its location amidst leading academic research centres, start-ups and external partners. From Hive, Unilever will lead its global Foods innovation programs for brands like Knorr, Hellmann’s, The Vegetarian Butcher and Calvė. Areas of research will include: plant-based ingredients and meat alternatives, efficient crops, sustainable food packaging and nutritious foods.

Together with its partners, Unilever aims to transform the food industry into a healthy and sustainable system, driving innovations that are healthier for people and for the planet.

Alan Jope, Unilever CEO, said: “We need a fundamental transformation of the food system if we are to feed more than 9 billion people sustainably and nutritiously. Malnutrition, obesity, climate change and food waste are issues that can only be addressed if we work in partnership to accelerate technology and innovation. Having a global research and development centre in Wageningen will enable us to do exactly this.”

The Wageningen area in the Netherlands is often nicknamed “Food Valley” – a nod to Silicon Valley – in recognition of the breakthroughs in agri-food tech being generated by start-ups, science institutes, NGOs and companies located in the area.

Unilever’s Hive has the highest certification for sustainable buildings: ‘BREEAM-NL Outstanding’. Large parts of the fully circular interior are accessible to the public. Earlier this year, the building won two prestigious design awards: the Global Design Award for Commercial Projects and the Global Public Award.