AGRICULTURAL NEWS - RSA Market Agents introduces a new value-for-money potato offering from rebranded potato grower, Wesgrow, which will see a new high-quality potato brand available to fresh produce buyers on the Johannesburg market floor.
RSA has entered into a strategic partnership with the Free State-based Wesgrow, formerly known as Wesvrystaat Aartappel Moerkwekers, which has a 52-year strong heritage in South Africa as the country’s leading seed potato producer, and currently represents up to 65% of all potato seed production in South Africa.
Its new Wesgrow brand harnesses this heritage and combines it with a fresh approach to potato marketing – one based on elevating the status of South African potatoes and providing tangible value for money through supplying excellent quality produce at market prices. In line with this, Wesgrow will debut with five pack sizes: 1kg, 2kg, 4kg (new to market), 7kg and 10Kg.
Although all markets along the value chain are important to Wesgrow, their research shows as much as 70% of its business will come from the informal market sector via hawkers, spaza shops, and independent sellers. However, Wesgrow will actively service all LSM groups, including top-end buyers and consumers.
A strategic partnership
“Over the past 33 years, RSA has become a leader in its field, offering our customers and growers the marketing edge they need to add value to their businesses. We are constantly looking to partner with innovative growers who supply good quality products. Wesgrow’s progressive thinking to elevate potatoes from just a commodity in South Africa reflects our vision to maintain our leadership position within the fresh produce industry. It’s a true strategic partnership with solidly aligned business goals,” explains Jaco Oosthuizen, group managing director of RSA Market Agents.
Gerhard Posthumus, Wesgrow MD, echoes these sentiments. “RSA's vision and values resonate with us, and as the largest market agent in South Africa, its country-wide footprint supports our own vision for national growth.
Although all markets along the value chain are important to Wesgrow, their research shows as much as 70% of its business will come from the informal market sector via hawkers, spaza shops, and independent sellers. However, Wesgrow will actively service all LSM groups, including top-end buyers and consumers.
A strategic partnership
“Over the past 33 years, RSA has become a leader in its field, offering our customers and growers the marketing edge they need to add value to their businesses. We are constantly looking to partner with innovative growers who supply good quality products. Wesgrow’s progressive thinking to elevate potatoes from just a commodity in South Africa reflects our vision to maintain our leadership position within the fresh produce industry. It’s a true strategic partnership with solidly aligned business goals,” explains Jaco Oosthuizen, group managing director of RSA Market Agents.
Gerhard Posthumus, Wesgrow MD, echoes these sentiments. “RSA's vision and values resonate with us, and as the largest market agent in South Africa, its country-wide footprint supports our own vision for national growth.
Added to this, we share the same appetite when it comes to African business prospects, making this a strategically important and symbiotic relationship,” he says.
