SA firms arrive in Japan to showcase at Foodex Exhibition

The 30 businesspeople who are supported by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) have arrived in Japan to showcase some of the finest South African food products and beverages at the 44th FOODEX exhibition. The exhibition which is dedicated to food and drinks will start tomorrow and end on Friday,8 March 2019.

The show is designed as a platform for creating and expanding business opportunities and to exchange information on the latest trends regarding the global food industry.

The owner of Winston & Julia, Ms Wilhelmina Jerman says she is looking forward to showcasing her chocolate products at the fair. She adds that she anticipates to make key contacts and build relationships with suitable importers and distributors.

“I will be very excited if we do get an order.  We put a lot of focus on beautiful packaging for our products and for the Japanese market beautiful packaging is crucial. Our products should be spot on for this market. I am also very excited to see what the rest of the world is offering at Foodex,” says Jerman.

She adds that her company is participating in the exhibition for the first time and hopes for positive results in terms of big orders, which she says will lead to the expansion of the business and the creation of more job.

The Director of Lentibex, an organic vegetable business manufacturing macadamia nuts, oil and butter, Mr Thabo Mooketsi is also anticipating establishing new market and distribution channels for exporting his products to boost his business profile as he intends to expand his market base.

Speaking ahead of the exhibition, the Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies described Japan as a traditional key trading partner to South Africa in the world with the annual total trade being about R90 billion over the past five years. He pointed out that agricultural trade with Japan has increased from R2.4 billion in 2013 to R2.7 billion in 2017. This he said was a positive indicator that South African products are an interest to the Japanese market.

FOODEX is Asia’s largest exhibition dedicated to food and drink across Japan and the whole world. The exhibition takes place over a period of four days and attracts about thousands of buyers from the food service value chain, distribution networks and trading companies from across the Asia region and globally.

Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (012) 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade and Industry
Follow us on Twitter: @the_dti

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