NEWS
Bastion…
Grasland’s New Dawn is Here
Grasland recently celebrated 50 years of existence as a leading provider of agricultural
lime solutions in South Africa and also announced the beginning of a new era with a new
name, Bastion.
By Marlon Abrahams
Senwes Scenario Editor in Chief
O
n Thursday, 2 August 2018,
at The Barn in Klerksdorp, the
new era was marked by the
announcement of the compa-
ny’s new name, logo and slogan: Bastion
– Foundation for Growth.
Bastion Managing Director, Etienne
Schoeman said the name change marked
a recalibration of the company strate-
gy. “We have a proud history and track
record and our name change in no way
reflects a distancing of our past. We
embarked on quite a lengthy period of
self-reflection and deliberation and we felt
we had to recalibrate, realign ourselves,
so to speak, to the changes in the market
and changes in the market environment.
Part of this process brought to light that
we needed to align everything we do to
the “why” of what we stand for. Many
companies know how to do business, but
research has shown that many don’t know
why they do business.”
Etienne made reference to the rise
and fall of former cell phone giant Nokia
whose slogan or “why” was ‘Connecting
People’, “but shortly before their demise,
their strategy was to maintain a dominant
market position. This shows a non-align-
ment between strategy and purpose.”
“Bastion’s “why” is: ’To make the
acquisition of natural lime products sim-
ple and low risk, in a way that promotes
sustainability’. What this really means is
that we have to be more customer-centric,
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SENWES SCENARIO | SUMMER 2018
absolutely focused on the client. It also
means our business systems must be in
place and run efficiently and it means that
our staff must be aligned with our values
said Etienne.
“This one sentence may seem simple
and straightforward, but take for instance
just the one statement ‘low risk’ – this
means that we focus aggressively on
conservative financial management in
order to minimise any possible risk to all
our stakeholders. Its means we maintain
a positive cash balance so that we can
always pay our creditors on time, it means
that we protect our customers by being
a sustainable business and it also means
that we safeguard our shareholders by
doing responsible business. It further
means that we make product quality a
very high priority so that producers can
Etienne Schoeman, managing director of
Bastion.
be certain that they achieve the necessary
reactivity of lime in their soil.”
Bastion is a member of the Fertilizer
Association of Southern Africa (FERTASA)
which is an article 21 Company that runs
the generic affairs of the fertiliser and agri-
cultural lime industry of Southern Africa.
The impact of agricultural lime on yield
development and performance is dis-
cussed in articles elsewhere in this journal
and there can be no doubt that crops
assisted by agricultural lime applications
deliver better yields.
Francois Strydom, Group CEO of
Senwes, 50% shareholder of Bastion
and director of Bastion, said that he
researched the definition of the name
Bastion. “I am honoured to be part of
this historic day. When I looked up the
definition I was very pleased and I can
honestly say that I see that value being
demonstrated here today. In the context
of business, the best definition applica-
ble would be that Bastion is “a thing or
person regarded as upholding or defend-
ing an attitude or principle.” Given your
track-record over the last 50 years, I can
only predict good things going forward,”
said Francois while toasting the compa-
ny’s new name at the function.
The event was marked by a very
positive reception of the new name and
logo by staff and management enjoying
cake and a bubbly toast in celebration
of this milestone and the new chapter it
represents. A big thank you from all at
Bastion to our loyal clients, suppliers and
producers. Without you we would not be
where we are today.