“South African citrus growers feel regulations have more to do with market protectionism,” said Don Limon's Andreas Schindler. “They feel there's a Spanish lobby that's promoting barriers to entry that make it difficult for exporters from other continents, especially South African exporters, to enter the European market.” With difficulties in Europe, Schindler explained that it's best for South African growers to explore sending their products to other continents.“Europe is still a big market for South Africa,” he said, “but we're happy to develop markets in Asia.” Don Limon, which is based out of Germany and which has offices in South Africa, China and Latin America, works with citrus growers around the world to market their fruit. Schindler noted that, though Asia, and China in particular, is an attractive destination for growers, breaking into that market requires the right contacts.
“We can reach customers in inland China who don't speak English,” he said. “Before, big trading companies would work with other big companies in China, and they would sell to each other, and the Chinese company would then sell to someone else, and so on. What we can do for the exporter and the buyer is make the process more direct. Instead of buying from the customer of a customer of a customer, they buy it from us.” With as much potential as there is in South Africa, Schindler said it makes sense to develop additional markets.
“We see so much potential in South Africa – we plan to double our citrus volumes from there,” he said. “We're developing markets so we can find a home for all the fruit on the tree.”
For more information:
Andreas Schindler
Pilz Schindler GmbH
Tel: +49 (0)40 - 3095499-45
Fax: +49 (0)40 - 3095499-60
www.don-limon.de