ALPLA Group

Pack­a­ging spe­cia­list ALPLA is inves­ting in Morocco and plan­ning expansion

Joint ven­ture with Diana Hol­ding for PET pre­form, pallet and film production

Hard, 16 November 2023 – The inter­na­tio­nally active ALPLA Group is expan­ding its pre­sence in North Africa with its market entry in Morocco and set­ting the course for growth in the Maghreb. The pla­stic pack­a­ging spe­cia­list has acquired a majo­rity stake in the pack­a­ging pro­ducer Atlantic Pack­a­ging and founded the joint ven­ture ALPLA Morocco with the pre­vious sole owner Diana Hol­ding. In addi­tion to PET pre­forms for the beverage industry, pla­stic pal­lets and films are pro­duced at the plant in Tan­gier. Pre­form pro­duc­tion has recently been tri­pled through invest­ments in new machinery.

In its ongoing inter­na­tional expan­sion efforts, ALPLA now also pro­vides safe, affordable and sus­tainable pla­stic pack­a­ging solu­tions in Morocco. By acqui­ring a majo­rity stake in the pack­a­ging com­pany Atlantic Pack­a­ging and estab­li­shing a joint ven­ture with the pre­vious sole owner Diana Hol­ding, ALPLA is con­tri­bu­ting its exper­tise and expe­ri­ence to the pro­duc­tion of PET pre­forms for the regional mar­kets in the Maghreb and for Wes­tern Africa. In addi­tion to pre­forms, ALPLA Morocco also pro­duces pla­stic pal­lets by injec­tion moul­ding and pack­a­ging films by extru­sion at its modern plant in Tan­gier. Curr­ently, 32 people are employed at the site.

ALPLA Morocco’s pre­form capa­city has already been tri­pled in 2023 by two addi­tional pre­form pro­duc­tion lines. In the coming years, ALPLA is com­mitted to incre­asing the port­folio of the Moroccan site through fur­ther local acti­vi­ties, poten­ti­ally inclu­ding bottle and clo­sure pro­duc­tion. This initia­tive aims to estab­lish the ground­work for growth and sus­tainable pack­a­ging solu­tions in the North Wes­tern African Region.

Stra­tegic partnership
‘Tog­e­ther with our stra­tegic partner Diana Hol­ding, we want to exploit the enormous poten­tial of the regional mar­kets, open up new seg­ments and con­tri­bute our exper­tise as a global system pro­vider for pre­forms, bot­tles and clo­sures,’ explains Chris­tian Fessler, Mana­ging Director Middle East and North Africa at ALPLA.

In addi­tion to its pack­a­ging sub­si­diary, Diana Hol­ding is pri­ma­rily active in the agro-industrial sector. Through this joint ven­ture, the family-run group is streng­thening its pack­a­ging divi­sion, which was founded in 2007, by capi­ta­li­sing on its sub­stan­tial bot­t­ling expe­ri­ence gar­nered over nearly 50 years as the former Coca-Cola Com­pany bot­tler in the nor­t­hern region of Morocco.

Our joint vision is to be one of the lea­ding sup­pliers of high-quality pla­stic pack­a­ging in Morocco and for Wes­tern Africa, and to offer inno­va­tive solu­tions. We created Atlantic Pack­a­ging with the vision of expan­ding its capa­city through a stra­tegic part­ner­ship. In ALPLA, which puts a great emphasis on the three P’s: People, Planet, Profit, we have found the ideal partner for this pro­ject, enab­ling the crea­tion of fur­ther syn­er­gies,’ says Rita Maria Zniber, CEO of Diana Holding.

Pro­duc­tion capa­city tripled
The appro­xi­m­ately 12,000 square metre plant in the free trade zone of Tan­gier is to be expanded in stages over the coming years. More than 20,000 square metres of space is available for future expan­sion. In the first stage, ALPLA Morocco has tri­pled its pro­duc­tion capa­city from the cur­rent 100 mil­lion pre­forms to around 300 mil­lion units per year. To this end, the com­pany is inves­ting in two new PET pre­form pro­duc­tion lines.

Through the loca­tion in Morocco, we can supply our global cus­to­mers in nor­t­hern Africa with the usual qua­lity and fle­xi­bi­lity, gain new busi­ness part­ners and expand our port­folio to include new areas. At the same time, we are crea­ting new jobs by expan­ding our pro­duc­tion volume,’ says Javier Del­gado, ALPLA Regional Mana­ging Director Africa, Middle East and Turkey.

In addi­tion to the know-how for the deve­lo­p­ment and pro­duc­tion of resource-saving pla­stic pack­a­ging made of recy­cled mate­rial, ALPLA Morocco is loo­king ahead to leverage its capa­bi­li­ties as a system pro­vider and to intro­duce new tech­no­lo­gies in the future. ‘By manu­fac­tu­ring bot­tles, pre­forms and clo­sures, as we already do in South Africa and Angola, we pro­vide cus­to­mers with suc­cessful pro­ducts and sus­tainable solu­tions from a single source, giving them a market advan­tage,’ says Delgado.

The joint ven­ture was signed by the con­trac­ting par­ties on 31 August 2023, and approved by the local anti­trust aut­ho­ri­ties. The par­ties have agreed not to dis­c­lose the terms and conditions.

 

About ALPLA Group
ALPLA is one of the world’s leading companies in the manufacture and recycling of plastic packaging. Around 23,300 employees worldwide produce custom-made packaging systems, bottles, caps and moulded parts at 190 sites in 46 countries. The high-quality packaging is used in a wide range of areas, including for food and drinks, cosmetics and care products, household cleaning products, detergents and cleaning agents, pharmaceutical products, engine oils and lubricants.

ALPLA operates recycling plants for PET and HDPE in Austria, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Romania and Thailand. Other projects are being realised elsewhere around the world.

www.alpla.com

 

About Diana Holding
Founded in 1956, Diana Holding is an agro-industrial holding company owned by the Zniber family and is one of Morocco’s leading private companies with a turnover of more than $420 million. The agro-industrial group manages 8,300 hectares of land and employs around 7,000 people. Over the years, Diana Holding has made its mark on Morocco and beyond, employing a strategy of sustained growth and business diversification, as well as a commitment to internationalisation. The combination of its deep Moroccan roots alongside its international footprint has enabled the development of an integrated agro-industrial holding.

Diana Holding is led by Rita Maria Zniber as CEO and President.

www.dianaholding.ma

 

Infor­ma­tion for editorial
ALPLA, Erik Nielsen (Team Leader, Cor­po­rate Com­mu­ni­ca­tions), +43 (0)5574 6021 701, erik.nielsen@alpla.com
Pzwei. Pres­se­ar­beit, Joshua Köb, +43 (0)5574 44715 22, joshua.koeb@pzwei.at