The logistics of keeping the expat community happy

Far away from family and
friends many a South African
expat has found solace in
being able to dip an Ouma Rusk
with a pot of home-grown rooibos
when the longing for home
becomes too much.
Finding South African products
was, however, not always as easy
as it is today. Catering specifically
to the retailers overseas who
serve the expatriate South African
community, South African
Products International (Sapro)
locally sources and ships tons of
goods abroad every month.
Thanks to its efforts, home
grown delights are at the fingertips
of any expat who can’t stand the
thought of a curry without Mrs
Balls chutney or breakfast without
Pronutro, or maybe even a braai
(when the weather permits) without
good old Iwisa Maize-meal pap.
Sapro, for its part, thanks the
Durban port from which all its
containers are shipped.
“Durban is the centre point
of our organisation as all our
containers are exported from there
to our various export destinations
– the UK, Ireland, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand,” says
Audrey McMillan, managing
director of Sapro.
Having started the operation
packing the first container in
the parking lot of a major South
African retailer, Sapro today
exports at least eight 20-foot
containers a month, jam-packed
with locally manufactured goods
for which expats apparently can
find no alternative. More than
2000 South African products are in
demand and have to be shipped for
consumption.
“Our initial export market was
to the UK, but with time we have
grown to supply retailers and
wholesalers in Australia, Canada,
Ireland and New Zealand. We are
also hoping to expand into some of
the European countries in the next
few months,” says McMillan. “We
have never actually advertised our
company and we have grown our
client base through word of mouth
and a very basic website. The
number of customers that we have
does not grow at a high rate year
on year, but our existing customers
are ordering more frequently and
placing larger orders.”
McMillan became involved with
the company in 1998 when she
and her father were approached
to run the South African side of
the company after it had been
started a year earlier by an English
shopkeeper who had converted
a part of his shop into a South
African corner.
With no prior exporting
experience McMillan found
herself thrown into the deep end.
“We set up a joint venture with
our clearing agents in the UK who
are purely wholesalers and at any
one time supply over 200 South
African shops, pubs, restaurants
and butchers throughout the UK.
We initially started sending a
handful of products, but over time
the price list has grown and we
now export over 2000 different
products.”
McMillan says they have come a
long way since the packing of their
very first container in a parking
lot. “I soon started contacting
manufacturers directly and opened
accounts to buy direct from them
rather than from wholesalers, but
this meant we had to find a freight
agent with warehouse facilities so
all the stock could be delivered
to one point. In the early years
we packed between two and four
containers a month. Today, we
ship at least one 40-foot container
a week to the UK with a minimum
of eight 20-foot containers a
month going to other clients. In the
busy months we can pack as many
as 17 containers for export.”
Being 500 kilometres from the
port must pose challenges though.
“Yes and no,” says McMillan.
“From a customs clearing point
of view it is better to have the
container in Jo’burg should it be
stopped for inspection, but from a
transport point of view it is slightly
more costly again having to haul
containers to the port.”
And it is all done by road.
“We don’t use the rail service
any longer because the service
is just not reliable in getting our
containers to Durban on time. We
have therefore had to transfer to
road-hauling all our containers
which is more costly for our
customers.”
Most exporters face the same
transport challenges though, says
McMillan. “The bottom line is
that many challenges faced in
exporting are around the systems
used and that would be the same
regardless of where the economic
hub is located. “
It is these very systems that
pose another great challenge –
getting containers from the depot.
“Delays are something we have
to contend with every day and if
there are strikes at the port it is of
course much worse. It would be
fantastic if the rail system could
be improved and the system was
one where one did not have to
struggle and wait for hours to get
containers out.”