TRADE SHOW REVIEW PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 06/22 www.petpla.net 42 Record sales and growth from Austria by Kay Barton Greiner AG is a family business based in Kremsmünster, Austria. It manufactures plastics and foams and is responsible for the divisions Greiner Packaging, Neveon and Greiner Bio-One. On March 10, it unveiled its 2021 business figures. Besides record annual sales of around US$ 2.4 billion, the sale of company division Greiner Extrusion at the end of 2021, investments and expansions in worldwide markets, and naturally the difficulties of the year have all been hot topics. Because of a Covid-19 infection, the press conference was changed at short notice from an in-person event to a purely online event, where CEO Axel Kühner and CFO Hannes Moser presented information about the business year and then answered questions. up the largest proportion of this result, contributing US$ 815 million, 11.5% up on the previous year. Sharp increases in raw materials prices led to cashflow declining by 26% to US$ 264 million, yet the company made its highest investments to date in tangible assets such as machinery, systems, tools and digitalisation, amounting to a value of US$ 173 million. Over 75% of these investments were made within the EU. Second place in the sales ranking was North America with a growth market of 9.5%; Greiner Packaging maintains a smaller division here, and there are plans for further expansions, particularly in the field of packaging. Taking into account the sale of the extrusion division, around 190 additional jobs were created in 2021. First, CEO Axel Kühner explained that although the crises of recent months had been painful, they also offered opportunities through the associated changes and could offer future security through relevant adaptations. Here, he also referenced the conference title: “Hello Progress – Alles auf Zukunft” (All for the Future). CEO Axel Kühner Market environment A family business with 150 years of history has certainly seen a few sights. He described the market environment in 2021 as challenging because of the economic uncertainties of the pandemic, interrupted supply chains, the scarcity of raw materials, and increasing raw material and energy prices on the world market, as well as the resultant changes for end consumers. However, Mr Kühner explained that it was certainly not about the often criticised regionalisation of company processes but about strategies to continue promoting activities globally. The topic of sustainability is also to play a greater role in the company’s future success criteria, which the company is striving to develop as a growth driver. Despite a turbulent year, privatelyheld Greiner AG was able to bring about the highest sales ever in the company’s history. CFO Hannes Moser explained the figures and highlighted the sales growth, which was over 18% in 2021 compared to 2020. The Greiner Packaging division made
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