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The Eastern Cape Development Corporation will lead a large business delegation to the Chinese cities of Ningbo and Chengdu to kick-start what has been billed as the "South African year" in China.
The delegation also includes six Eastern Cape companies placed by ECDC on a permanent trade fair in Ningbo in April last year.
ECDC market access specialist, Zodwa Kepeyi, a highlight of the trip will be the launch of "South African Food Week" which kicks off in Chengdu on July 2.
She says in celebration of 20 years of democracy, China has declared 2014 the "South African year" and the ECDC had "decided to take advantage of this by producing live exhibitions and to showcase the South African diverse cultures. ECDC officially opened the permanent exhibition in April 2013.
In December we hosted a mohair exhibition whose main focus was to introduce the Eastern Cape as the mohair capital of South Africa.
"This is now phase three where we are giving companies an opportunity to showcase their products and to interact with buyers. This is also an opportunity for companies to benchmark their products against their competitors from different countries. During the trip companies will conduct business to business meetings. On the June 28, a live products show will take place at Ningbo's Wonder Square. This is the heart of Ningbo and also acts as a meeting place. This is seen as an opportunity to practically demonstrate the uses and product variation through tasting and modelling. The locals will get to try the products and give immediate feedback," explained Kepeyi.
Kepeyi says the aim of South African Food Week in Chengdu City is to showcase South African flavour. The food will be prepared at one of the renowned restaurants in China, SEEA Restaurant. Seea Seafood Restaurant which is owned by a large franchising group, has a franchising network and market capacity in over 10 major provinces in China. The aim is to demonstrate to the public that the South African flavour can be enjoyed in China.
"The recipes will comprise of spices, sauces and pasties from the Eastern Cape exhibitors. In celebration of 20 years of democracy, we have sourced recipes from the Mandela kitchen book.
"One of ECDCs exhibitors and one of the largest processors of pickled cherry peppers in South Africa, Grahamstown-based Carara has secured a working relationship with Seea Seafood Restaurant. It's predicted that the restaurant chain will use of 5,5kg per day of cherry peppers from Carara amounting to an annual consumption of 2,2 tons a year," says Kepeyi.
SEEA restaurant will be preparing the meals while the recipes will be cutting across different types of cuisine. There has also been an effort to accommodate as many tastes and preferences as possible. "The Chinese are now at a stage where they are willing to try everything new in the market. We are hoping our flavour will be of interest to them," Kepeyi says.
Products to be exhibited vary from blueberry jams, cherry peppers, honey mead, pastries, sauces, jam variants, mohair scarves and bath refurbishing kits.
Located northeast of the Zhejiang province of China, Ningbo has the largest seaport in China and the second largest in the world. It forms a major part of China's import and export market. The United States Food Industry Association predicts that Chinese imported and exported food sales will grow at a speed of 15% year on year. To 2018, China will become the world's largest consumer of imported and exported food. The Chinese domestic market size of imported food will reach up to $480 billion."
