Marketing Inbound Mission with GoodFood

In early January, we began discussions with a company called GoodFood, based in Israel. GoodFood operates a canning factory in Israel and has packhouses in Israel and Rusia and cold storage facilities in Russia. Israel benefits from a 0% import tariff, while Russia imposes an 8% tariff on pecans. Last year, Israel imported between 450 and 650 tons of pecan kernels, with Russia representing a much larger potential market for Pecans from South Africa.

Our journey with GoodFood started with an introductory email exchange and a video call. Following this, Sappa reached out to processors and exporters and provided them with information about the potential opportunity and to arrange for pecan kernel samples to be sent. Though we were out of season, we managed to receive two samples from the five companies that expressed interest in this opportunity.

The samples, which were sent by Sappa to Israel, made a significant impression on GoodFood, particularly the Choctaw kernels. After reviewing the samples, GoodFood sought feedback from their customers in both Israel and Russia about the potential to purchase pecan kernels from South Africa. Although South African pecans had previously suffered from a poor reputation due to issues with rancidity, GoodFood is eager to help reestablish the market and grow the demand for high-quality South African pecans.

In March, Yoav Adato from GoodFood requested a visit to South Africa, as they were already in the region for Medjool date business in Namibia. We arranged a two-day trip for them to meet with the five processors who had shown interest in the opportunity. During their visit, Yoav, along with GoodFood’s owner Gera Shalmiev and his son Gilad Shalmiev, toured the following processors; Karsten, Empire, Bester, Vaalharts Pecan Marketing, and Swiss Agro.

GoodFood plans to make a follow-up visit during the pecan season to see the factories in action, which is an exciting step forward in the potential partnership.

We believe this marks the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship, with the possibility of opening new markets for South African pecans in Israel, Russia, and beyond.