For Manufacturers
We provide food and beverage manufacturers with new export-market opportunities, and work with reliable importers-distributors in the 54 African and Indian Ocean Islands markets.
For Importers / Distributors
We provide importers-distributors in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands with food and beverage products relevant to their markets. These products are sourced directly from manufacturers, across the world.
Direct From The Manufacturer
FOOD, IN ALL ITS DIFFERENT SHAPES AND TEXTURES, IS WHAT KEEPS US GOING. IT DOES NOT
MATTER WHERE WE LIVE IN THE WORLD.
The most fascinating aspect of food is how it is transformed, processed, prepared and served in the different regions of the world.
The world has such a wide variety of foods and these can now be found across the globe, thanks of companies like ours.
Although Africa and Indian Ocean Islands Business Connection (Pty) Ltd (AIOIBC) had only been established in 2016, the commercialisation and transport of food has been on our minds for many years.
Our aspirations started in Central Africa, in the 1970s, where we negotiated and bought 50 kg bags of Manioc (dried Casava Root) and peanuts up river (previously called the Zaire River). We then brought the bags down river by commercial river boats to
the port of Kinshasa, Congo's capital. From there the bags were sold to traders who would resell them to wholesalers and consumers in the local markets.
Since then we have learned valuable lessons working in various international markets - from North America, across Europe to Asia back through to the Indian Ocean Islands and Africa - and have realised how different markets are.
But, what has impressed us the most is the globalisation of certain products, such as the Belgian beer trade which produces over 700 different beers! Belgian beers were not well-known outside the country in the 1980s, but they now enjoy worldwide recognition,
from any London pub to tropical islands halfway around the world.
Multinational companies have taught us that well-known chocolate and beverage brands could be sold in Swaziland, Mozambique and Zambia. They have also taught us that established supermarkets in East Africa and West Africa have well-travelled consumers
who want more than just local food and beverage offerings. Today’s media-exposed, health-conscious consumers, from Cameroon to Mayotte, want gluten- and sugar-free products.
While we have become somewhat jaded with well-known, international brands which are available everywhere, the lesser-known local brands have started making inroads to new export markets. Who would have thought that instant noodles from Mauritius could
be exported across the globe?
Mauritius produces some of the most amazing, affordable confectionary, as does Zimbabwe. Ghana produces some of the best chocolate spread, while Rwanda and Tanzania have a superb selection of teas.
Africa has so much to offer the world and the world has so much to offer Africa.
After a brief stint of Indian Ocean Island hopping, savouring local delicacies from Reunion to Mauritius to Seychelles, we decided it was time to return to our roots, in Africa. "You can take an African out of Africa, but you cannot take Africa out of an African."
Although we are based in Fourways, Johannesburg in South Africa, we travel extensively and can source any of these products and so much more for you, our valued customers.