By Carmen Woo
EIGHT companies will head to South Africa and Nigeria for the first-ever food business mission to South Africa and Nigeria to explore expansion opportunities in potential food markets overseas.
Led by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the mission will visit Lagos in Nigeria, and Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa from Sunday to Aug 4.
Ahead of the trip, IE Singapore coorganised a half-day seminar with SPRING July 13 to brief delegates on the import regulations and standards of South Africa.
South Africa's huge 48 million population and an affluent upper-middle class offers a sizeable domestic market for consumer goods. The recent 2010 World Cup has also given the rapidly growing country an extra boost, especially to its tourism and hotel industries.
The same growth is seen in Nigeria. Its sheer population of 149 million represents a healthy appetite for consumer goods and services that is expected to grow through its fast emerging middle class and the nation's Vision 2020 plan2.
The great potential of the food sectors in both South Africa and Nigeria is further reflected by food exports from Singapore. Food exports to both countries have been growing at double-digit pace since 2007, standing out significantly among other markets in the food sector.
Mr Pek Yipp Song, Executive Director of Tai Hua, which manufactures sauces, said: 'South Africa and Nigeria are new growth areas in the world that are still largely untapped. Increasing number of tourists and expatriates are going into the countries. This, coupled with the growing middle class locally will contribute to a rising demand for better quality of life, hence higher quality of food products.
'We believe the market is ready to appreciate our unique offering of naturally brewed quality soy sauce. The time is right now for us to enter, to establish our brand in the markets.'
Earlier this month, a similar trip was organised by IE Singapore for six food services providers to Jakarta. They met local retail and F&B operators who were potential franchisees to the Singapore brands. The mission also included site visits to the various retail locations.
