South African Wine Shines at Russian Trade Show

South African wine companies are making inroads at the Prodexpo international trade show currently underway in Russia.

Prodexpo is the largest international show for the food and drinks sector in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Wahed Khan, the Director of Global Business Development at Cape Dreams, says the show is an ideal platform to promote his wines. The show is also providing an opportunity for the company to network and create partnerships.

“We are excited to be part of the show and value government’s support. We have had good quality meetings over the two days with high level discussions. The main thing is not just to sell but to secure collaborations for sustainable growth and development of our brands.”

“The competition here is stiff but our wines are strongly gaining ground. I am optimistic that we will secure deals by end of the show and beyond,” said Khan on Thursday.

Cape Dreams is part of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (dti) business delegation to the show.

The dti organised the local companies’ participation in the expo which is being held in the capital Moscow.

The mission is funded through the department’s Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) Scheme, whose objective is to develop export markets for South African products and services.

The International Marketing and Brand Manager of Cape Diamond Wines, Anneli Karsten said the company has been in the Russian market for a while but are in the process of finding an importer for three of their ranges.

“We had successful meetings and tastings of our wines and it looks like we will be exporting our Cape Elephant range with a good number of volumes soon. I am positive that by weekend we will have a good report,” said Karsten.

Meanwhile, Western Cape businessman Malcolm Green has met with a number of Russian importers who are interested in South African wines.

“South Africans wines are creating a strong presence in this market and with the quality of wines, service and our ethics in terms of how we conduct business, we seem to be getting through the Russians,” said Green.

The trade show which got underway on Monday, will conclude on Friday, 14 February. – SAnews.gov.za