Philipp Hugo Gutsche

Philipp Hugo Gutsche, Non Executive Chairman of Coca-Cola Sabco, was born in Port Elizabeth in 1938. After matriculating at Selborne College he attended the University of Cape Town where he obtained his B.Comm degree in 1960. He joined the Coca-Cola Export Corporation in Johannesburg in February 1961 and in July 1962 he joined his father’s business, S A Bottling Company, as Manager of the Port Elizabeth Plant. In 1975 he succeeded his father, Philipp Rowland Gutsche as Managing Director and in 1995 was appointed Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

S.A. Bottling Company, based in Port Elizabeth, expanded through the acquisition of numerous Coca-Cola franchise territories in South Africa. The Port Elizabeth-based company now operates 26 plants in 12 countries – South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia and Laos – and serves over 240 million consumers. The Group employs about 10 000 employees.

Outside the work arena, Philipp Gutsche has been active in community activities. He is President of St. Francis Hospice and Chairman of the St. Francis Hospice Trust. He was Chairman of Round Table in 1972/1973, and is now a member of the Port Elizabeth Rotary Club. In 1992 he was awarded Rotary’s Paul Harris Foundation Award for service to the Community. In May 2003 he was inducted as President of the Port Elizabeth Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PERCCI) for a two-year period. He also serves on the Board of the Mandela Bay Development Agency and is a Patron of the Raymond Mhlaba Trust. In 2005 Philipp Gutsche was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Philipp Gutsche’s recreational activities include tennis and yachting. In recent years he has actively participated in competitive yachting. In addition Philipp Gutsche is a keen wild life conservationist, spending time, when possible, on a game farm belonging to him and his wife, Yvonne, in the Sabi Sand Wildtuin.