– Bühler Southern Africa successfully hosted its first-ever customer day in Madagascar at the Radisson Blu Hotel at the Waterfront in Antananarivo in early September. The event brought together stakeholders from the rice, pulses, and spice sectors, alongside representatives from government initiatives focused on food security and industrialisation.
“From our Johannesburg office, we focus on the entire Southern Africa region. Each country has specific strategies and initiatives based on its market potential and requirements,” explains Nombulelo Mzizi, Channel Partner Manager, Bühler Southern Africa.
“This was our first event in Madagascar, and it allowed us to engage directly with customers, understand their challenges, and introduce our solutions in the region,” she adds. “Madagascar is a key focus country for us, particularly in rice, spices, and pulses, which are central to our expansion strategy.”
The event highlighted Bühler’s cleaning and packaging solutions. For rice, Bühler supports cleaning, hulling, polishing, and sorting processes. For spices and pulses, its cleaning solutions are suitable for seed spices such as black pepper, pink pepper, and Madagascar wild pepper, while its grinding solutions work with root spices such as ginger, turmeric, and red chilli.
Beyond these segments, Bühler already has an established footprint in Madagascar in the wheat milling, animal feed, and chocolate processing industries, offering proven technologies that support processing needs from harvest through to packaging.
Bühler maintains a local presence through dedicated sales and service managers in South Africa and a partnership with a Madagascar-based agent. “This approach enhances visibility and customer reach while leveraging our global expertise. Remote support technologies, including augmented reality (BühlerVision), allow customers to access our services without on-site visits,” says Mzizi.
Engagement with Madagascar’s policymakers is also a priority. “Understanding regulations, export restrictions, and development goals is crucial. For example, while rice is not currently open for export, potential government changes could create major new opportunities for our customers,” she explains.
“Participants appreciated seeing the team behind our solutions and understanding that advanced technology is both accessible and practical. We collected valuable leads, many involving significant projects that will develop over time. Participants expressed interest in future events, which will be part of our ongoing engagement strategy in the region,” concludes Mzizi.
About Bühler
Bühler is driven by its purpose of creating innovations for a better world, balancing the needs of economy, humanity, and nature in all its decision-making processes. Billions of people come into contact with Bühler technologies as they cover their basic needs for food and mobility every day. Two billion people each day enjoy foods produced on Bühler equipment; and one billion people travel in vehicles manufactured using parts produced with Bühler solutions. Countless people wear eyeglasses, use smart phones, and read newspapers and magazines – all of which depend on Bühler process technologies and solutions. Having this global relevance, Bühler is in a unique position to turn today’s global challenges into sustainable business.
As a technology partner for the food, feed, and mobility industries, Bühler has committed to having solutions ready to multiply by 2025 that reduce energy, waste, and water by 50% in the value chains of its customers. It also proactively collaborates with suppliers to reduce climate impacts throughout the value chain. In its own operations, Bühler has developed a pathway to achieve a 60% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scopes 1 & 2, against a 2019 baseline).
Bühler spends up to 5% of turnover on research and development annually to improve both the commercial and sustainability performance of its solutions, products, and services. In 2024, some 12,350 employees generated a turnover of CHF 3.0 billion. As a Swiss family-owned company with a history spanning 165 years, Bühler is active in over 140 countries around the world and operates a global network of 105 service stations, 31 manufacturing sites, and research and training centers in 26 locations.
