A multi-pillar African enterprise headquartered in KwaZulu-Natal — one system, built to serve people.
Regenerative agriculture, fortified nutrition, ethical commerce, delivery, leadership and philanthropy sit in one group — not as separate brands.
We envision an Africa where well-being is not a privilege — where families eat with dignity, leaders decide with integrity, and communities build economies they own.
Prosperity, for us, is more than GDP. It is food on the table, skills in the hands of the next generation, ethical enterprises that create jobs, and systems people can trust. We care deeply about the well-being of all people in Africa — rural and urban, producers and professionals, today's workers and tomorrow's children.
Our vision is to help Africa prosper — by accelerating food security, transformative leadership, and economic empowerment through scalable solutions that create lasting opportunity.
Our mission is to put our skills, capital, platforms, and relationships to work where they matter most — so Africa can feed its people, educate its leaders, and empower its enterprises.
That is why the businesses exist. Each pillar of Big Five Group is a deliberate instrument of the mission:
The future of this mission is intelligent: ethical AI and robotics where they multiply dignity, Super-Cube® for human leaders, and SAM (SupplierAdvisor Messenger) as the always-on guide inside the commerce OS we run on. We do not chase tech for theatre — we use intelligence so Africa can feed, educate and empower at scale.
We deploy evidence-based models that equip leaders and organisations for ethical decision-making, innovation, and meaningful societal impact — aligned with the UN SDGs, including Zero Hunger, Quality Education, and No Poverty.
Our values are not posters on a wall. They are how we hire, partner, trade, and deliver — every day.
People come first. We design for dignity, well-being, and the common good — Ubuntu in practice, not just in words.
We advance continuously — new products, better systems, smarter platforms — so Africa is never left with yesterday’s tools.
Honesty, transparency, and ethical commerce. Where applicable, our companies are verified on SupplierAdvisor® so trust is earned.
World-class standards in food, leadership, project delivery, and partnerships. Good enough is not enough for Africa.
We do not create dependency. We transfer skills, open markets, and build capacity so communities rise under their own power.
We learn, partner, and improve. Progress is a team sport — with governments, enterprises, and communities.
The United Nations' State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2026) is the multi-agency reference for hunger and nutrition. Global indicators eased slightly — but Africa remains the epicentre of undernourishment. That is the landscape our vision, mission and values answer.
Africa is the region with the largest number of people facing hunger (overtaking Asia in the latest SOFI reading) Absolute numbers remain extremely high even where prevalence eases slightly.
About 2.7 billion people worldwide cannot afford a healthy diet (SOFI 2026) Fortification and affordable staples are structural answers — not boutique nutrition.
If current trends continue, hundreds of millions could still face chronic undernourishment by 2030 — with Africa carrying the majority share Pathways still imply ~~60% of residual undernourishment in Africa.
Figures are multi-agency UN estimates (FAO · IFAD · UNICEF · WFP · WHO) — not Big Five audited counts. Sources: SOFI 2026 FAO news · SOFI flagship page.
The eleven pillars turn that hunger landscape into programmes with proof.
SOFI challenge: Hunger on the plate and in the ground — ~309M people undernourished in Africa; healthy diets unaffordable for billions worldwide.
Group response: Agri regenerates soil and offtake. Foods fortifies affordable staples and institutional packs (including NSNP pathways). Waters adds UMTHOMBO™ — vitamin- and mineral-infused sparkling and still water.
SOFI challenge: Food-system failures are also leadership failures — tools without ethical judgment multiply harm under climate, conflict and capital pressure.
Group response: Super-Cube® whole-person leadership for executives, public servants and youth so ministries, enterprises and programmes can hold multi-stakeholder complexity.
SOFI challenge: Without trust rails, capital pathways and programme discipline, nutrition never becomes a plated, auditable outcome.
Group response: Royal is in the process of partnering with the Zulu Royal Household; Connect verifies trade; Direct moves product to where people already are; Access opens institutional capital; Global extends corridors and partnerships; Impact runs the PMO; Foundation funds with proof.
Work with rural farmers to restore land, train producers, verify regenerative practice, and supply Foods and Direct with produce markets and institutions can trust.
Shelf-stable fortified porridges, soya, one-pots and soups — including NSNP institutional packs — designed for cost, culture and daily menus.
UMTHOMBO™ 500ml range — five sparkling flavours (Naartjie, Litchi, Passion Fruit, Lemon-Lime, Mixed Berry) plus Still, all vitamin- and mineral-infused. Good water for our people.
In the process of partnering with the Zulu Royal Household — proposing a soil-to-plate loop from local farmers to fortified food on royal, ceremonial and community tables.
SupplierAdvisor® + SAM: verified suppliers, live control, provenance and ethical trade for B2B, B2G and B2C.
SANTACO-linked multi-use containers, solar micro-hubs and transparent routes so Foods reaches plates and small enterprises keep value.
Open government, institutional and development-finance pathways with Group delivery capacity attached — e.g. NSNP ambition under DBE.
Priority Africa + Europe distribution strategy with Group standards and SupplierAdvisor®-ready trade.
Design multi-pillar programmes with measurable gates; institutional pathways (including health systems) with honest language on working relationships.
Registered NPO pathways, SupplierAdvisor® listing, and programmes designed with Impact PMO so donors and communities see the same truth.
Produce → fortify → move → fund → verify → lead — impact compounds across pillars.
SupplierAdvisor®, Impact PMO, certifications and honest SOFI-aligned language — not overclaims.
HQ KwaZulu-Natal · Africa-wide ambition · corridors that serve dignity, not extraction.
Visionary architect of kingdom-centred leadership and sustainable impact in Africa.
Dr Craig Ross Muller is the creator of the Super-Cube® leadership model and the founder and chief executive of the Big Five Group, based in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The model grew out of his Doctor of Business Administration at the University of KwaZulu-Natal: a thesis on leadership skills development, completed in December 2020 and conferred in 2021, built as a case study of an African FMCG business network. He surveyed 132 people and interviewed ten directors to learn which leadership skills matter and how they can be developed, published the research in peer-reviewed journals in 2022, and has since seen the model taught in accredited programmes, including the 12-week intervention with leaders at Imana Foods and Kerry Foods.
He has spent more than twenty years in blue-chip FMCG, supply-chain optimisation and global consulting. He holds an MBA (2006, with a distinction for his dissertation on sub-Saharan vendor reliability) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management (2004) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Natal (2002). His certifications include PMP, PRINCE2, Managing Successful Programmes and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
The Big Five Group’s mission is three words: feed, educate, empower; Super-Cube® and Big Five Learn are how it educates. Craig’s conviction, and the argument of his book Leadership Is Learnable, is that Africa’s progress depends as much on the skills of its leaders as on its resources, and that those skills can be learnt by anyone, at any age.
Above all, Craig is the very proud father of Georgia and Benjamin, and hopes this work will inspire them, and their generation, to do good and help humanity move forward.
The Super-Cube® model, the evidence behind it, and how to develop leaders at every level
Doctor of Business Administration — Leadership skills development
University of KwaZulu-Natal · South Africa
Thesis (December 2020): a leadership skills development model (Super-Cube®), a case study of an African FMCG business network.
Master of Business Administration
University of KwaZulu-Natal · South Africa
Dissertation on sub-Saharan vendor reliability — distinction.
Postgraduate Diploma in Management (Advanced Management)
University of KwaZulu-Natal · South Africa
Supply Chain, Human Resources & Economics
University of Natal · South Africa
LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
Our leadership team
D.B.A., University of KwaZulu-Natal (2021). Creator of the Super-Cube® leadership model. Author of Leadership Is Learnable (2026).
Over 20 years of blue-chip experience in FMCG, supply chain optimisation and global consulting.
Full profile
Marketing & HR Director, Big Five Group™
Sales Director, Big Five Direct
Operations Director, Big Five Direct
Executive Director, East Africa
Executive Director, East Africa
Whether you are a government, investor, enterprise, or partner — there is a place for you in the Big Five ecosystem.