Hillebrand sets up Jo'burg office - Diversification into imports opens new market potential

JOY ORLEK
SPECIALIST GLOBAL wine and beverage logistics operator JF Hillebrand has expanded its South African base with the opening of an office in Johannesburg.
Established in Stellenbosch eight years ago, the company has cornered over 50% of the local wine export market, according to managing director Duard Scholtz. “When you get to a certain market size it’s good to consolidate what you have and look at other growth areas – and that’s the motivation behind our Johannesburg expansion.” While the company would never break out of the traditional wine and spirits field, it sees associated products like beer, water, fruit juice and the like as lucrative potential markets.
This will involve diversification into imports, and since most spirit imports take place in Johannesburg and there’s also a strong fruit industry in the greater surrounds, it’s even more motivation for the opening of the new office, says Scholtz.
Michele Menezies, who has 24 years of industry experience, heads up the Johannesburg operation.
“The idea is ultimately to offer the full range of logistics services from the new office, as we do in Cape Town, and this includes warehousing, imports, exports, seafreight and airfreight.” said Scholtz.
Currently Europe and the UK are the biggest markets for wine and spirit exports, with the US and South East Asia the two up and coming destinations.
Africa is also a big growth area, and having just signed up a network of agents across East and West Africa, Hillebrand expects the new office to play a major role in developing this market. Traditionally the company’s global operation has tended to base its offices within the wine producing areas and the main importing markets. In South Africa the approach has been the same and Scholtz expects to open a Durban office before the end of the year, establishing a presence for the company in both major import and export areas.