Jeroen Den Haerynck has always been passionate about advocating for Latin American exporters' interests. During his time at MTSL Surveys and later at Quality Studio, that formed part of his role as a quality inspector for a long time. At the start of this year, though, Jeroen decided to dedicate himself full-time to this cause by moving to SAFTA (the South American and African Fruit Trade Association). "Latin American and African exporters to Europe are often exploited. SAFTA aims to create an equal negotiating position for them, focusing objectively on the product," Michiel Den Haerynck, Jeroen's son and SAFTA's marketing head, begins.
"SAFTA was launched in January, with my father and Sebastian De La Cuadra acting as strategic advisors, alongside the two company directors (Diego and Tomas De La Cuadra) currently based in Chile. A partnership between various affiliated exporters and European companies that share the same vision of transparency and advocacy for exporters is vital."
"Many exporters have had bad experiences with Europe, such as additional costs due to logistical issues passed on to the exporters. Or claims that products don't meet the required quality upon arrival. Often, an exporter has no recourse because they cannot prove they're not responsible. They then have to decide whether to stop exporting or keep at it despite the outcomes and additional costs. Typically, they keep going; some income is better than none, after all," says Michiel.
SAFTA wants to empower these exporters. "Instead of importers having the upper hand, we want products to be objectively evaluated. Shoppers often forget that a €5 supermarket avocado earns the growers/exporters mere pennies per kilo; that's a massive difference. SAFTA's partners aim to provide A to Z support for exporters bringing their products to Europe. That includes ensuring fixed rates that aren't changed willy-nilly. In short, we want to ensure exporters are paid fairly and promptly, enabling them to support their families and grow their businesses. That ultimately benefits everyone involved."
Mindset change
SAFTA achieves this through a network of affiliated partners. "Although we've only recently started, the company is already shaping up nicely in collaboration with partners like Quality Studio, International Distribution Partners (IDP), and SA/VE Insurance. Each is committed to SAFTA's principles of fixed pricing and transparency. That's crucial. We aim to guarantee quality at departure andSA/VE will offer assurance during transport. Quality Studio will control the quality upon arrival, with IDP assisting in customs clearance, documentation, warehousing, and final delivery to the buyer," Michiel explains.
"Meanwhile, SAFTA representatives on the ground guide the entire process, ready to prove any issues that aren't the exporter's fault. That prevents them from being penalized for every minor error in the cold chain. That's how SAFTA intends to bring about a change in mindset. We don't want to monopolize this industry; we want to teach fair trade practices."
Education
Beyond addressing these issues, SAFTA focuses on education. "That is the second part of our business. For instance, some companies don't know how to export, but they could. We aim to teach them how to export to Europe. That includes understanding quality standards, which are often lower in South America and Africa. It's vital to bring them up to speed on Europe's strict requirements and the quality they need to successfully market a product there. Moreover, we stress the consequences of shipping substandard products and how that affects trust and relationships with European contacts. Our goal is to make a difference at both ends of the chain," says Den Haerynck.
AAAA
For now, SAFTA's focus is mainly on South America and East Africa, but says Michiel, that could expand in the future. "SAFTA supports four A's: South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Given my father's extensive contacts in South America and Sebastian's decades of logistics experience, that's where the focus has been. We're also looking into broadening our East African clientele. For now, we're testing the waters. Is there demand for such a service, and is the organization up for it?"
"If that proves successful, we indeed want to expand to the other A's. In principle, we can assist anyone with a similar chain and conditions. However, that growth must be organic," Michiel insists, "we mustn't overextend ourselves. We have to see if the service and process we envision are robust enough to scale to more customers across different continents. Everyone is sure it will ultimately be of added value for exporters, but it's crucial that we proceed in a controlled manner."
That goes for partners, too, he explains. "Many exports to Europe go through Rotterdam or Antwerp, and our current partners still offer us ample room to grow. Yet, we may need more partners if we want to explore other ports. They must, however, share our principles and those of our partners. If so, the sky's the limit," Michiel concludes
For more information:
SAFTA
11 Noordkaai
2170, Antwerp, Belgium
Tel.: +32 (0) 477 687 639
info@safta.trading
www.safta.trading