Terra Exports opened a South African Office on October 1, 2018 based in the Western Cape region, betting on its potential for growth in produce exports. “With the quality of South African fresh produce improving over the last few years, we believe in the region’s growth potential to play a larger role in the European, Middle Eastern, and Asian markets,” says Ankia Rabie who is leading Terra Exports Africa, the new division.
Citrus is still the most significant product exported from South Africa making up around 60% of all exported volume. Terra Exports Africa plans to focus on export volume growth for avocados (after the success of the Kenyan trade program), blueberries, apples, pears, grapes, stone fruit, citrus, cherries, and subtropicals. Currently, Europe buys 45% of all fruit exported from South Africa. Terra Exports will focus on supplying fresh produce to the MENA region, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, United Kingdom, and EU markets, along with the U.S. and Canada. “In the fruit industry information is an invaluable resource and we believe this first hand market information will be key to all of our suppliers and growing this new division,” Ankia Rabie stated.
Ankia continued, “Our team is based across the world and have real-time comparisons on offers from all of the different countries that may have similar products being shipped to the same market. This openness allows us to compare market demand, prices, and availability of products from different regions to see what opportunities may arise in the market.”
Terra Exports said it has experienced significant growth (well over 100% in 2018), and states the African division is part of their sales and customer service goals to remain on this growth trajectory for 2019. Currently, Terra Exports supplies produce out of Europe, North America, South America, North Africa and Oceania. The African division will ensure the company can service their customers worldwide throughout the entire year.
President of Terra Exports, Nils Goldschmidt stated, “I'm passionately excited about this new division. For years I've wanted to have a presence in Africa, but finding the right person to lead it was a barrier. Once we found Ankia, who was a perfect match for our core company values, I knew it was time to launch. The African division itself will allow us to continue solving our customers' and growers' problems (that's really all we do), and it will keep all of our team members engaged and proud to be a part of our growing company.”
For more information:
Ankia Rabie
Terra Exports Africa
Tel: +852 5534 9697
ankia@terraexports.com
www.terraexports.com