The owner of Blue Africa Trading which produces wine and rooibos products from the Western Cape will get an opportunity to travel to Peru and Chile to explore those markets. Mr Charl Rudman, who hails from Stellenbosch will be part of the 27 member business delegation which will participate in the Outward Trade and Investment Mission (OTIM) to the South American countries, taking place from 2 to 6 June 2014.

The mission is part of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (the dti) strategy to expose and provide market access to emerging exporters in other countries in order to increase trade between South Africa and international countries.

“I am very excited to have been selected to be part of this mission as I believe it will open a lot of doors for our company in the South American market. The market for rooibos is growing worldwide as it is generally a new product that is mostly unknown in other countries,” said Rudman.

He added that he will be marketing a new product for the first time in Peru which is rooibos wine.

Rudman, who also produces high quality tea for the hospitality industry, rooibos tea for premium and private labels said he is looking forward to meet tea importers, coffee chain shop and also retail chains who might be interested in importing his products.

“I am very grateful to the dti for this opportunity because it has been through these kinds of missions that we have been able to introduce our products to other markets in the world such in the Middle East where we are already seeing results,” he exclaimed.

The business delegation has been assisted through the dti’s Export Marketing and Investment Assistance Scheme (EMIA).