As perishable export
volumes to South
Africa’s traditional
markets continue
to decline operators are seeing
a definite
increase
in demand
to African
countries.
According
to Ronel
Rossouw,
SAA Cargo’s
national sales
manager, there
has been a
slight decrease
in volumes
of local
perishables
on historical
routes such
as the European Union (EU).
“But at the same time we are
seeing more demand into
Africa – especially as more
South African supermarkets
extend their reach within
the continent and open more
stores.”
She said several select
African markets were
performing extremely well,
among them Harare in
Zimbabwe,
Lusaka in
Zambia and
Namibia,
which is why
the airline
recently
added
capacity on
these routes.
“On our
European
flights we
now feed
perishables
from other
African
countries to
the EU and that is proving to
be a better yield than what
the South African market can
fetch,” said Rossouw.
“There’s been a significant
increase in fish from Namibia
this year and the Harare
market has also performed
very well in season,” she said.
“Other areas like the Congo
and Nigeria have not done
as well as the previous year
– a trend that we hope will
change, especially with the
introduction of direct flights
to Abudja on our services later
in the year.”
In order to better service
the perishable market
SAA Cargo has invested
in new facilities at the
import warehouse fridge,
and construction has been
completed.
“We are in the process
of reviewing the export
warehouse fridge to ensure
smooth movement
in and out of our
facilities at various
temperatures,”
she told FTW.
“It is all about
keeping the
cool chain,
but infrastructure within
African airports is not always
fully equipped with cooling
facilities and that can pose a
major problem. As an airline
we can provide premium
services but that does come at
a cost and our markets cannot
necessarily always sustain
this.”
INSERT & CAPTION
There's been a
significant increase in
fish from Namibia this
year and the Harare
market has also
performed very well
in season.
– Ronel Rossouw
