Summer-Ready Pool, Patio and Café Chairs by Unica Plastics

Pretoria, October 2026. Spring is in full swing and summer is only a few weeks away, so Unica Plastics is focusing on outdoor seating for the months ahead. That covers home patios, lawns and pool surrounds as well as café pavements and the outside areas of restaurants, guesthouses and lodges. The manufacturer is based in Pretoria West and has made injection moulded plastic products since 1998. It has picked out a set of chairs and stools from its range that are made to cope with sun, rain and heavy use through the year's busiest outdoor season.

Every October, families start carrying furniture back onto the stoep. Hotels, restaurants and venues get ready for sunny weekends, school holidays and end-of-year parties. Chairs that sat in a storeroom all winter are checked and counted, and many are replaced. Unica Plastics wants buyers to know that tough, practical outdoor seating is manufactured locally in Gauteng.

Built for local conditions

Outdoor furniture in South Africa has to handle harsh sun, sudden summer storms and a lot of moving around. Homes and businesses both want a plastic chair that is light to carry, quick to wipe down and easy to stack away when the weather turns. Unica designs its products for this kind of daily use, and several items in its catalogue suit the coming season.

The Lawn Chair is the clearest example. Unica describes it as a chair for the garden, the patio and the pool side, with a generous seat and hand rests for comfort. Its perforated back rest comes in two patterns. The openings do more than decorate: they let air flow through, which keeps the person sitting in it cooler on hot days. Drainage holes in the seat let rain water run off instead of pooling, which helps in a region where afternoon storms are a regular part of summer. The Lawn Chair takes a load of up to 150 kg and stacks up to 20 high. There is a senior size, offered in two back rest patterns, and a junior size for children. A range of colours is available, and special colours can be made on order.

Tougher seating for hospitality

Restaurants, coffee shops and canteens that need something stronger can choose the Rocky Chair, which is made for heavy daily use. Unica calls it a heavy duty chair that works anywhere from a formal setting to a trendy cafeteria, with a soft, curved design that fits into its surroundings. The ergonomic seat and back rest support the lumbar spine and give a pressure relieving seating surface. A reinforcing rib structure makes it strong enough to use on slick surfaces. The Rocky Chair takes a load of up to 200 kg, has a handle in the back rest for easy carrying and stacks up to 20 high. It comes in black, maroon, dark green and dark blue as standard, and special colours can be made on order. Venue owners comparing plastic chairs for sale before summer trading starts can find the full specifications on the product page.

The Revo Stool suits outdoor bars, braai areas and kitchens. Unica designed it to fix a common problem with plastic stools, which is legs that snap under twisting forces. Its top rotates independently, taking torsional strain off the legs. Unica points out that this strain is a frequent cause of breakage in many plastic stools. The stool is lightweight, has a reinforcing rib structure, stacks up to 20 high and takes a load of up to 130 kg. It works for both homes and businesses.

Seating for parties and functions

Summer is also the season for outdoor celebrations, from garden parties and family gatherings to year-end functions. The Unica Party Chair has been part of South African get-togethers for decades. It was one of the first products Unica developed in 1998. At the time, in the company's words, many South African consumers would not consider furniture made from anything other than steel or wood. The chair went on to become a common sight in South Africa and across the wider Southern African region. It comes in senior and junior sizes, has a reinforcing rib structure and stacks up to 20 high for storage and transport.

The Best Chair is designed specifically for the events and catering industry. Because it is light, it is easy to store and transport. Its contoured seat eases pressure on the hips and upper legs when guests sit for a long time. Non-slip pads under the back legs give extra grip on slippery floors, and its small footprint lets planners fit more seats into a venue. It takes a load of up to 150 kg and comes in three patterns.

For weddings and more formal outdoor occasions, Unica makes the Tiffany Chair locally. The company describes it as a local version of a design that has become popular worldwide and is widely used at weddings and events. The steel frame has a powder coated paint finish to stop rust, which helps when the chairs are used outdoors. It stacks up to 10 high and takes a load of up to 200 kg. It is available in gold, silver, white, red and black. Event companies and venues sourcing Tiffany chairs for the coming function season can see the details online.

A Pretoria West factory since 1998

Unica Plastic Moulders was set up in 1998 as the first manufacturing company in what grew into the Unica Group, and it is still the group's main base for research and development. The factory on Edison Road in Pretoria West Industrial can produce 400 tons a month. Unica says it applies strict quality assurance and quality control measures at all times, so that only top quality products reach its retailers' floors.

Along with its seating, the company makes stadium seating, plastic desks, the Desk in a Box all-purpose desk, fold-up tables, a 240 litre wheelie bin and homeware such as laundry baskets, basins and buckets. Brands it has developed and brought to local and cross border markets include the Party Chair, Desk in a Box and Genie, The Better Bed.

Recycling at scale

Unica's mission is sustainability through innovation. The company says it keeps looking for ways to improve its products and to become more sustainable financially, environmentally and socially. It reports using close to 4000 tons of recycled polymer a year. By Unica's figures, this saves 26 000 cubic yards of landfill space and conserves about 25 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year, which is enough to power 2000 average households for a year. For buyers who want durable outdoor furniture made locally, this commitment to recycling is one more reason to buy close to home.

The case for local this summer

Buying furniture made in South Africa keeps production, skills and jobs in the country and shortens the trip from factory to buyer. A hospitality business may need to replace a few dozen chairs before December, or a family may want more seats for a summer of braais and swimming. In both cases, planning is easier with a nearby manufacturer that keeps stock in standard colours and can make special colours on order. Every chair in this outdoor group stacks, so seating can be packed away fast when a storm comes in and set out again once the sun is back.

Homeowners, café and restaurant owners, caterers, schools and event planners can browse the full range, compare specifications and contact the sales team at https://plastics.unica.co.za/.

About Unica Plastics

Unica Plastics, trading as Unica Plastic Moulders, is part of the Unica Group. Since 1998 it has made injection moulded plastic products in Pretoria West, Gauteng, for local and cross border markets. Its range covers stackable plastic chairs for events, functions and schools, stadium seating, plastic desks and fold-up tables, a 240 litre wheelie bin and homeware such as laundry baskets, basins and buckets. The company created brands including the Party Chair, Desk in a Box and Genie, The Better Bed, and its factory can produce 400 tons a month.