Appointment underlines importance of perishables to DSV in South Africa
Jaco van den Berg has been appointed Managing Director of DSV Skyservices to lead the company through an exciting new phase of service and product development, all of which signalled the importance of perishable cargo to DSV Air & Sea.
DSV Air & Sea Vice President Sub-Saharan Africa Gordon Wyatt said many synergies had evolved following the integration of DSV Skyservices into DSV Air & Sea in 2019. The companies began integrating systems and operations in June last year under the watch of outgoing MD Bernd Julicher, who remains a minority shareholder and a non-executive director.
“Perishable cargo is an important part of our Air & Sea Africa strategy and we have exciting plans going forward. Jaco has been central to the integration process and I look forward to working with him in his new role”, he said.
DSV Skyservices operates from world-class facilities at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and Cape Town International Airport, and offers end-to-end import and export solutions for fruit, vegetables, flowers, meat, fish and other perishables. Markets served include Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Far East and the USA.
“I am hugely honoured and excited to become part of the dynamic DSV Air & Sea leadership team” said van den Berg, who becomes MD on 1 March 2021. “DSV’s support and system changes have taken our business to another level, and this has been an added advantage in these challenging times”.
Van den Berg has been in the perishable airfreight business for 24 years. He joined Skyservices 14 years ago as branch manager in Johannesburg before being appointed a director three years ago and heading operations. He successfully helped steer his division through the acquisition and integration process when Skyservices was acquired by Panalpina, and then again more recently when Panalpina was acquired by DSV.
Outgoing MD Bernd Julicher said it had been “a fantastic 17-year journey” and he “could not leave the company in better hands. I look forward to adding value where possible to this dynamic team in the future.”
