Specialty Food: Moving from Domestic to Export Success (conversation with Jim Thaller)

A very big thank you to Pumela Salela from the World Bank for her contributions last week on Business Process Outsourcing, specifically where and how SMEs can secure BPO business for themselves by outsourcing to each other (SME to SME), and by positioning their company to take advantage of the growing movement toward socially responsible outsourcing.

Over the next few weeks we are going to focus exclusively on the South African specialty food and wine sectors. SAIBL clients in these sectors continue to impress me with the quality of their products and the impact they have on their communities. Look forward to in-depth profiles of several SAIBL specialty food and wine clients as well as the first ever SAIBL e-catalogue! This e-catalogue will be published in time for the holiday season and will bring you high quality, authentically South African products in Wine, Specialty Food, and Giftware.

Lets get this week started with a video from this Summer's New York Fancy Food Show.

At the show we were lucky enough to speak with Jim Thaller, of the Talier Trading Group. Take a look at the video of our conversation:



Some of Jim's answers surprised me. For example; when his company works with an African producer to re-tool their production and packaging, the on-site visit lasts only two weeks, and by the end of the visit there is a finished product!

Another surprise was the primacy of production capacity when Jim is deciding whether or not to take on a company. Jim joked that "he doesn't want to be shopping [for capital equipment] in India every other weekend". Good finances and domestic success certainly matter; but production capacity is paramount for the importer.

Successful producers in the domestic market should take note that supplying the U.S. market may require drastic changes in product and strategy; e.g. one of Jim's E. African clients was producing rolled-oat products domestically, but with the help of the Talier Trading Group, they are now producing breakfast cereals with dried African Fruits for export. Similar examples abound.

Producers that wish to know more about working with the Talier Trading Group should visit their website .