Committed to agriculture

Engen, the lifelong brand sponsor of the biggest agricultural expo in Africa, came to the table once again to make this year’s Nampo a roaring success

John Kennedy, lubricants business manager at Engen, says: “We have been involved with Nampo for over 27 years, even dating back to the show’s precursor, which was known as the Sampie Oesdag.”

Kennedy explains that Engen has always found it worthwhile to support Nampo, as it represents the best one-stop shop for the company to meet its major mechanised customers in the agricultural sector.

“Our presence at Nampo reflects our commitment and involvement in the agricultural sector in South Africa. It provides an opportunity for us to showcase new products and technologies, as well as our promotions and community projects within this sector. This year we highlighted our continued involvement with the South African Federation of Vintage Tractors and Engine Clubs (Savtec) in the Engine Restoration Challenge,” Kennedy enthuses.

“Over the years the agricultural sector has supported Engen. Through the growth in our loyal customer base and new customers, we have been blessed with annual increases in market share in both lubricants and fuels,” says Kennedy.

With the support Engen has received from this sector, it has been able to give back to the agricultural community. “We are a corporate member of the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz), which is a voluntary, dynamic and influential association of agribusinesses operating in South and southern Africa. Together with our business partners in this sector, we are involved in community and social upliftment projects.

“Last year, we donated R1 million to the Drought Relief Fund. We also provide training and awareness on our products to numerous cooperatives and offer extensive channels to markets within this very important sector,” says Kennedy.

Kennedy says the drought had a major effect on sales of Engen’s fuels and lubricants over the last two years. “The drought has had a massive impact on spending within this sector. Business confidence levels have been at an all-time low. In essence, the negative effect of the drought will only start easing when the current summer grain crop has been harvested and the farmers receive their first payments,” he notes.

To strengthen its support to the agricultural sector, Engen has 37 sales and distribution companies and 12 Engen Oil centres around the country, with its products available at numerous cooperatives, such as Hinterland Fuels, GWK and OVK.

Engen’s products include its comprehensive Dieselube range, Cooltec, Agritrac, Agrifluid, Gearlubes, Air1 AdBlue and Dynamic Diesel. “Our Agrifluid and Agritrac products were developed specifically for the agricultural sector as universal and multifunctional lubricants respectively,” Kennedy says.

“The expectations and demands of the agricultural sector are similar to those found in
the road-freight sector in that agricultural equipment is at the heart of the farming operation and reliability, performance and availability of the equipment are of paramount importance.

“Although the agricultural sector has many commonalities with the commercial sector, modern agricultural equipment requires specific lubricants as per the requirements of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs),” explains Kennedy.

“The products must adhere to specific properties, performance characteristics and specifications as universal and multi-functional lubricants. To remain competitive Engen needs to meet and exceed these specifications,” says Kennedy.

Besides senior management, this year Engen had a team of more than 20 staff present during the entire week of Nampo. The team comprised lubes/fuel staff, marketing staff and technical advisors to make sure that customers were attended to by the right experts.

“What we enjoy most about Nampo is the opportunity to meet and engage with customers, partners and key stakeholders within the agricultural industry. Most importantly, we are very proud to be associated with Nampo,” concludes Kennedy.