Founded in 2011 by a father and his two sons, Omega Packaging has overcome significant challenges to become a leading manufacturer of wine bottle dividers in Cape Town.
Despite early setbacks, including what they called unethical attempts by competitors to sabotage their reputation, the family business has flourished through resilience and determination.
Boasting of a staff of 40 people, Omega Packaging’s core operation is to provide industries with packaging materials that are 100% recycled and 100% recyclable.
Bottle dividers are used to protect glass products from breakage and scuffing from vibrations and friction during the packaging and shipment process.
“We come from an entrepreneurial family, and we were looking for an opportunity to start a business. My father had about 40 years of experience in this field, and we felt this was the strongest base to establish a company.
“There was also an opportunity in our product line as the bottling of alcohol and beverages was increasing year after year. There was need for recycled products and this product would fit perfectly within that space,” co -founder Steve Smith said.
Due to the nature of the business, the family invested their own funds for the startup capital, which they used to buy equipment to manufacture the product and to pay employees.
The business partners didn’t anticipate that the business would not take off in those early months and had to borrow money from family and friends to sustain the company.
At the time, the company’s biggest challenge was that it had a product that was untested and unproven.
“When we entered the market, our competitors warned customers about us with all sorts of untruths. This caused the market to wait and see if we could be trusted. As a result, we made very few sales.
“We had less than ten customers in the first few years. This meant that the business was bleeding cash. This was the worst possible start that we could have,” he said.
The trio knocked on doors of potential customers urging them to give the business a chance. One by one, customers took a chance on Omega Packaging and realised the company produced quality products, which could also save them money.
Around 2018, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) assisted the company with getting ISO 9001 certified, which is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system.
“Now that we have the certification, we can get more customers. We can sell to the automotive industry for instance, and we just picked up a customer that is a global alcohol producer. They also helped us implement systems that made running our business much smoother,” Smith concluded.
Omega Packaging can be reached on www.omegapackaging.co.za
For more information about Seda visit www.seda.org.za
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