South African companies on a trade and investment mission to Peru are confident that their products and services will find a market in the South American country.
The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) is currently leading a group of local companies on an Outward Selling Mission (OSM) to the South American country’s capital, Lima.
The local companies are impressed about the countless trade leads and valuable market information they have obtained in the first two days of the mission.
“The most important aspect of any trade mission is the matchmaking session, where business-to-business meetings take place. This is where companies get to know each other and start discussing serious business,” said Managing Director of Thandi Wines Vernon Henn.
Henn said he was “delightfully surprised” by the quantity and quality of the companies that came to meet South African companies.
“They were genuinely keen on getting our products onto the shelves of the Peruvian stores. This is the first step but I am optimistic that when I go back home and start assessing all the leads, I will be able to get a distributor or agent that I can do business with and export our wines to Peru,” said Henn.
Lee-Anne Kruger, the Financial Manager of Salemco International, said she has learnt more about the industry in Peru and the trade and investment opportunities available for South African companies.
“Most of the people I met with during the matchmaking session offered potentially good trade leads. What was even more interesting for us was that the importers and distributors we met were not only interested in one product, but were eager to market the whole range in Peru.
“When we get back home, we will have our work cut out deciding who will serve our products best before making follow-ups,” said Kruger on Wednesday.
Andries Blake of Blake Family Wines expressed confidence that his wines would be able to stand among the best and compete successfully in the difficult Peruvian market dominated by wines from countries such as Chile and Argentina.
“I have no doubt that there is an opportunity here because the South African wine is different. We have uniquely South African brands such as Pinotage and Chenin Blanc that are not available here. We will be offering them premium wines that are targeting the upper end of the market. Fortunately, the companies I met here are looking for exactly what we are offering as they understand their market,” said Blake.
Trade between South Africa and Peru grew from more than R800 million in 2016 to about R1.5 billion last year.
Last week, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said the OSM forms part of the dti’s efforts to strengthen bilateral trade relations and increase trade and investment between South Africa and Peru.
This week’s trade mission, which began on Monday, is the fourth mission to Peru the dti has organised since the technical scoping mission that the dti undertook to Peru in 2013. - SAnews.gov.za
