Hellmann plans specialist perishable facility

TAKE A longer-term view.
That was the comment made to FTW by Jost Hellmann, m.d. of the Hellmann Group of companies, when questioned in Frankfurt about his reaction to the crashing rand.
The SA market at the moment is already a tough place to do battle, he said. But we will have to come to grips with this (latest situation) as it will become even more negative.
While it will go through a further dip before it gets better, I have faith in the long-term prospects.
The devalued rand will create more strength in the SA export market, according to Hellmann, and the falling currency exchange rate seems to be doing little to dissuade US companies which are moving into the SA market.
We already have a pretty huge investment in SA, he said, including the recent purchase of our own building - and we are still planning further developments there.
The first stage of this expansion programme is the domestic trucking development just launched by the SA Hellmann operation. This Hellman's Parcel Service has intensive hubs in Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, Hellmann told FTW.
He also expects it soon to be joined with an SA off-shoot of the group's recently established international HPL service - a specialist logistics operation in the global perishable market.
HPL is a pure perishable network, said Hellmann, with dedicated warehouses; pure perishable people; and an international track-and-trace system.
Started in the US and Chile (the latter being a main competitor for the SA perishable exporters), the group's HPL service has since expanded to Australia and New Zealand; has a perishable specialist just appointed to oversee the European market; and is doing growing business in the UK.
A meeting has just taken place in Johannesburg, where the HPL presence in SA is likely to have been confirmed.
By Alan Peat