By Fakir Hassen
Johannesburg : The Spices Board of India is on an intensive drive to use South Africa as a springboard into the African continent.
A stall set up by the Spices Board at the South African International Trade Expo (Saitex) last week attracted a great deal of interest with its display of Indian spices and literature on the essential ingredients to worldwide cuisine.
“South Africa is now the biggest market on the continent for export of Indian spices and spice products, perhaps because it has such a large population of Indian origin. It also provides an excellent gateway to other countries in Africa,” said G.K. Vidyashankar, assistant director of marketing at the Spices Board.
“We are also exploring opportunities for exporting value-added products such as spice oils and resins to South Africa.”
Like the rest of the world, chilli remains the spice that South Africa imports the most from India, but the local Indian community also has a huge appetite for blended spices.
“But across Africa, the other communities in the local populations are also now showing great interest in Indian cuisine, opening up opportunities for the popularisation of Indian spices.”
Vidyashankar said importers in Africa preferred to bring in their spices via the Durban port, because its infrastructure allows easy access to the rest of Africa.
From 6,110 metric tonnes of spices imported by South Africa in 2003, worth about Rs.250 million, imports have grown to almost 7,000 metric tonnes in 2007, worth Rs.460 million.
Vidyashankar said he would recommend to his head office an intensive consumer marketing campaign to promote the use and techniques of blending Indian spices in the region.
Spices Board of India has its own brand of spices called “Flavourit” with 46 different products. Another 40 spices are presented under the label of organic spices.