ECDC visits China this week to kick-start 'South African year'

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The delegation also includes six Eastern Cape companies placed by ECDC on a permanent trade fair in Ningbo in April 2013. The companies have already made inroads into the lucrative Chinese consumer market, securing growing orders and distribution channels for their products. The metro has strong ties with the Ningbo chamber of business and the Ningbo tourism board.

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.

"In celebration of 20 years of democracy, China has declared 2014 the 'South African year'. We then decided to take advantage of this by producing live exhibitions to display the South African diverse cultures. ECDC officially opened the permanent exhibition in April 2013. In December 2013, we hosted a mohair exhibition whose focus was to introduce the Eastern Cape as the mohair capital of South Africa," explains ECDC market access specialist, Zodwa Kepeyi.

"This is now phase three where we are giving companies an opportunity to demonstrate their products and 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.

"Last week, a live products show took place at Ningbo's Wonder Square. This is the heart of Ningbo and acts as a meeting place. This was seen as an opportunity to demonstrate practically the uses and product variation through tasting and modelling. The locals got to try the products and gave immediate feedback.

A highlight of the trip will be the launch of 'South African Food Week' in Chengdu on Wednesday 2 July 2014. The food will be prepared at Seea Seafood Restaurant, which is owned by a large franchising group that 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 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 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 the 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 is predicted that the restaurant chain will use of 5.5kg per day of its cherry peppers amounting to an annual consumption of 2.2 tons a year.

"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," concludes Kepeyi.

Products to be exhibited vary from blueberry jams, cherry peppers, honey mead, pastries, sauces, jam variants, mohair scarves and bath refurbishing kits.

The US 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.