Cape marketing drive focuses on exports

RAY SMUTS A STRONG focus on export growth is the target for the year ahead at Excellence Forwarding, Cape Town. As freight forwarders go, the Montague Gardensbased branch with three-members is small, though not short on larger objectives. Fielding a seafreight/airfreight balance of 70/30, Excellence Cape Town, with a regular customer base of around 30 representing all types of commodities, has hitherto focused primarily on imports. But the scenario is fast changing to concentrate far more on improving the export side of operations. Branch manager Ruth Boddington hopes export volumes, fuelled by enthusiastic new sales representative Roely van Stochteren, (her background in real estate) will increase considerably. Currently the Western Cape branch handles between six and 12 containers a year, a mix of 20 and 40-footers, on behalf of a single client. But Boddington believes the marketing drive under way may well draw considerable new business – possibly ten or more clients, with a mandate to ship in the order of 200-300 containers, mostly reefers, in the year ahead. “Although our business is not focused on any one particular commodity, the company as a whole has a wide range of perishables experience.” Excellence Forwarding is the official South African representative for Tandem Global Logistics, the service incorporating both sea and air freight. The company is involved in both LCL and FCL shipments, the latter primarily from the UK, China, the Netherlands and Belgium, while exports are mainly to the UK and The Netherlands. “We are hoping to substantially grow branch business over the next six months, with a promise to maintain quality service to our clients. In Durban Lenny Reddy heads up the operation as branch manager, and as specialists in the importation of meat and chicken, regular meetings with the state vet and other officials responsible for clearing meat and plant products are the order of the day in order to stay up to date with the latest protocols. “By understanding and sticking to the rules, we can provide a better service,” says Reddy. Referring to the company’s new export focus for perishables, he says the emphasis is on service. “There is an agreement with the port that reefers can be plugged into available points at any time of the day or night. “Service levels are also maintained by investing in facilities and people – the office has grown from one person in 2005 to five,” he told FTW.