IMFA honors South African molded fiber executive

The New York-based International Molded Fiber Association (IMFA) has honored longtime molded pulp executive and current IMFA Chair Gary Visser with this year’s Joe Grygny Award for Career of Service to the Molded Fiber Industry. The award is named for Joe Grygny, longtime executive director of IMFA.

IMFA says Visser’s career has been “defined by innovation, integrity and a deep belief in people.”

Visser became IMFA’s executive board chair in 2018. He also worked 23 years with South African company Dynamic Fibre Moulding Ltd. (DFM), followed by a 14-year consulting stint with Environmental Packaging Solutions Australia Ltd. in South Africa.

“Gary has shaped the modern molded fiber industry through decades of strategic planning, innovation and collaboration—but perhaps more importantly, Gary’s care and service have shaped his community in a way that will reverberate for generations,” IMFA says.

Visser entered the paper and pulp industry via a role with International Paper’s Masonite Africa operation near Durban, South Africa. According to IMFA, in the early 1990s, he headed north to Mandini where he joined startup DFM.

At that firm, Visser engineered a system to recover and repurpose fiber from a sludge-like material generated by a neighboring paper mill, “laying the groundwork for what became a unique process” in the molded fiber industry, the association says.

After three years as DFM’s general manager, Visser became the firm’s CEO for two decades, helping to build the company into a dominant player, capturing more than 50 percent of the Southern African egg carton market.

“Gary created a family of people who wanted to work with him,” says former colleague Godfrey Sabido, who now works from the United Kingdom for French recycled-content molded fiber packaging producer Omni-Pac Group.

“There was no ambiguity: everyone knew their role, and if you made a mistake, he held you accountable but never held it against you,” Sabido adds, describing Visser’s approach to leadership as “respectful, thoughtful and firm.”

Francisco Garcia, founder of Mexico-based E6PR, says before making contact with Visser, his firm first was struggling to find a solution to create molded fiber packaging that could rival plastic or aluminum in function.

"Gary came on board as a consultant, but when he saw what we were trying to do, he jumped in fully," Garcia says. "He believed not just in our product, but in the idea that innovation and sustainability must go hand in hand.”

IFMA says an anecdote from Chris Lo of Hong Kong-based molded fiber products maker TAW Holdings points to Visser as “a man of integrity.”

According to the association, when in a business meeting with Visser, someone spoke negatively of Lo’s efforts and investment, and Visser responded by saying, “If you cannot work with Chris Lo, I’m certain you won’t be able to work with me.” When Lo asked about the incident and why Visser would risk the chance of gaining a new client, VIsser replied, “I only work with people who are kind.”

Lo also credits Visser’s leadership with helping IMFA become “a globally respected and open, collaborative and financially sound” association.

“He invites the best minds to share their expertise and keeps the market honest and transparent,” Lo says. “That’s a gift to the whole industry.”