Logistics major invests in solutions for wine exporters

Thanks to a new initiative introduced by Tigers Global Logistics, the South African wine industry is gaining ground in growing its export volumes. President of the Americas for Tigers, Sebastian Tschackert, told FTW the company had invested significantly in developing not only logistical solutions to assist wine exports but also in ensuring local producers could enter the North American market more easily by providing support for some of the regulatory challenges. “There are tremendous opportunities in the American market, which is unique due to its scale and development,” said Tschackert. However, it is not an easy market to penetrate, which is why TigersWine has made a difference to local winemakers. Fully licensed in accordance with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) as a wine importer and wholesaler, TigersWine can import wines and facilitate their sales in addition to delivering to distributors across key states in the US. “We have a temperaturecontrolled facility in California with fulfilment capabilities to both distributors (B2B) and consumers (B2C), which is powered by our SmartHub:Connect (SH:C) visibility platform.   According to Tschackert, digitalisation is proving to be a major disruptor in the logistics industry. He said in the US, crossborder e-commerce was changing the airfreight industry and fast becoming a growth driver. Commenting on new developments for Tigers in the US, Tschackert said significant investment was going into the company’s next “SuperHub” which would open in the first quarter of 2020 in Memphis, Tennessee, to support the surge in demand for e-commerce. The company was also introducing new X-ray screening capabilities at its main US export gateways in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.