Valuable partners of Rymax Lubricants in Africa

There’s a famous African saying that goes: “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together’. This very much applies to Rymax Lubricants and the company’s expansion in Africa over the years. Only teamwork leads to success, underlining the importance of a good match between distributor and headquarters. In this talk with Rymax’ management team, we deep-dive into the importance of their network of distributors in Africa.

A selection of the Rymax products in the remarkable orange bottles.

“Rymax is available in over 20 countries on the African continent” states Mr. Erik Vermeer, Commercial director of Rymax Lubricants as we speak to him in a videocall. “Finding the right distributor to represent our product assortment and brand is not easy. There are a couple of values that we look for when searching for new partners. But we also have something to offer. Once a decision is made, we fully commit to success and go all-in with everything we have to offer: a very professional marketing team, top-notch logistical support, a full product assortment with a dedicated Account Manager to advise the best products. And one of the most valuable assets we can offer is exclusivity. Our potential partner, given we meet our mutually agreed goals, will be the only one allowed to distribute our products in their market. A valuable asset that comes with a responsibility.”

We ask the Managing Director of Rymax Lubricants, Mr. Wouter Cuppen, to elaborate a bit more on how Rymax got such a solid market position in Africa. He explains: “Our company was founded almost 30 years ago, in 1986. At that time, we worked as a private label manufacturer and explored every part of Africa. We’ve built a very valuable network, some of those customers are still with us today. A good example is Rwanda”, Mr. Cuppen continues: “Together with our local partner, Société Petrolière-SP with whom we had many years of successful business, we combined forces and invested in the construction and operation of the Rymax blending plant ALMC in Kigali’s Economic Free Zone, providing local markets with high-quality products following our Dutch standards. This fruitful corporation has resulted today in a substantial market share of Rymax Lubricants in Rwanda. The foundation of our partner SP provided the perfect ground to reach this success. SP is a large player in the fuels sector. The company is financially healthy and locally rooted and their willingness to invest, truly made the difference. Together we seized the opportunity and now we are one of the biggest brands in the market.” Mr. Vermeer agrees to Cuppen’s statements and adds to this: “We have many examples of these successful partnerships that we are very proud of: the Azar family who run Beever Company in Liberia, Tchakwanda in Angola who has grown very hard in a short period of time, or our ambitious partner in South Africa, Jaco from Orbit Industrial who is very committed and has chosen to focus 100% on Rymax: these are just a couple of examples of a very good match.”

"Our company was founded almost 30 years ago, in 1986. At that time, we worked as a private label manufacturer and explored every part of Africa. We’ve built a very valuable network, some of those customers are still with us today.

The global marketing manager of Rymax, Mr. Jan-Pieter Doove shares his vision on what the key to success is: “The first steps in any corporation are exiting. You are both discovering each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Obviously, we expect our partners to be knowledgeable, to understand the lubricants market in their country and to have a network to distribute the Rymax products to. But as an exclusive distributor, we also expect our partners to invest in the brand awareness. The global marketing department offers a lot of assistance in for example online marketing, sponsoring, and advertising, but the local distributor also needs to take an active role in this. A good example is our new partner in Mozambique. The team has invested in sponsoring and corporations with brand ambassadors, elevating the brand to a flying start. But also, our partner in French speaking Mali has proven to be an excellent representer of the Rymax brand with consistent on and offline advertising campaigns.” Mr. Doove states: “It is our goal to facilitate and inspire our partners, we want them to feel that the Rymax brand is just as much theirs, as it is ours. Only through these committed partnerships where we truly work together, we can make a difference in a highly competitive market. We understand this very well and we are fortunate enough to have many partners that share this vision”.

Mr. Wouter Cuppen, Managing Director of Rymax Lubricants.

"It is our goal to facilitate and inspire our partners, we want them to feel that the Rymax brand is just as much theirs, as it is ours.

It is interesting to see the clear strategy that Rymax follows to be successful in Africa. During our call with the management team, we get a better understanding of their commitment to teamwork. Mr. Erik Vermeer summarizes the most important elements for success: “Financially healthy, an established company, committed owners, a professional salesand marketing team and a strong local network are the key-factors we are looking for in potential Rymax distributors. We are fortunate enough to have found these partners in Congo Brazzaville, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, La Reunion, Zimbabwe, Togo, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, and many other countries, not only in Africa. All with their own expertise’s and strong points. And together we investigate where the opportunities for growth are, what points we need to work on. But it always comes down to teamwork. The ones that are open for our help are the ones that are most successful. And vice-versa: we listen to their experiences in the market to see where we need to further develop our services, products, and assistance. When we travel to visit our distributors, we like to learn about their company and their market activities, but also about their family, hobbies, and personalities. If we have the right match, we like to consider our partners as friends, or even family: the ever-growing Rymax family. Because we truly believe that shared success is so much more sustainable, and the saying we mentioned in the introduction of this article underscores the value of collaboration and teamwork for achieving longterm success.”

Do you recognize yourself in the profile of a Rymax distributor? There are still many African countries where Rymax is looking for professional partnerships. You can contact Mr. Erik Vermeer directly on erik@rymax-lubricants.com.