Cornelis Vink: Winning International Confidence
Three years after buying 40 per cent stake in Chi Ltd, Coca Cola, a world-class soft drink giant, made 100 per cent acquisition of the company, Nigeria’s leading manufacturer of juice products. For Coca Cola to be attracted to Chi spoke volume of how the company, which was established in 1980 as start-up, has evolved over the years to be a leader in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, where it plays favourably above its peers. Coca Cola had said the decision to acquire Chi Nigeria Limited was in line with the desire to evolve into a total beverage company as the diverse ranges of beverage products in Chi’s portfolios perfectly complement and fit that of the company, thus enabling it to expand into new categories and grow the business in Africa. Incorporated Nigeria by Dutch entrepreneur, Cornelis Vink, it began operations in March of the same year. The company became part of the Tropical General Investment (TGI) conglomerate which has diverse business interests in food, healthcare, agriculture, engineering and other industries.
The company began distribution of Capri sonne in 1982 which later emerged as one of its flagship brands. In 1990, it introduced to market CHI juice, which was originally sold in cans but after a couple of years it was packaged in Tetra Pak. In 1996, the firm introduced Chivita orange flavoured juice to the market and like the previous drink it was originally sold in cans until 1997 when a paper carton packaging machine was installed. The firm later launched three new flavours in Tetra Brik: pineapple, mango and apple and in 1999 it introduced blends of orange and pineapple.
CHI Limited was pioneer in the industry in the use of Tetra Pak packaging for its dairy product, Hollandia. The company is run by Vink as chairman and Rahul Savara, who is group managing director as well as Deepanjan Roy, the managing director.