A 7-MILLION pineapple processing plant has been opened in East London. Collondale Cannery is one of two pineapple processing factories in South Africa. The company has installed a plant with a new evaporator specifically imported for processing pineapple juice concentrate. South Africa accounts for 6% of the world’s pineapple production. The world market is dominated by Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Kenya. South African pineapples are traditionally less sweet and more acidic than that of its competitors. A blend between South African pineapple concentrate and that of imported concentrate results a sweeter product, but with the distinctive pineapple taste that is unique to the South African product. The new plant aptly illustrates the value of investment in production capacity for export sales and job creation. The new Collondale plant incorporates the latest technology that will enable the company to up its production of pineapple juice concentrate on by 50%. All of this will be exported, generating sales of R7 million per year. As a result, the company can now run a full seven lines from its factory and employ 55 additional people. Collondale currently employs 297 people. Speaking at the opening of the factory, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Lindiwe Hendricks, said there were great opportunities in the export market. It held a great deal of potential for the South African economy in general and East London in particular. “Historically we have found that many of the industries in East London have not been able to compete with firms in Gauteng for the domestic market and part of this inability to compete was due to the high costs of transportation inland. The vision for East London’s success is therefore tied into the vision that we have for South African industry and that is to focus on export markets,” she said. She urged businesses to take advantage of the many trade agreements that the government has signed with other countries. These agreements give South African companies access to a number of markets at duty free or lower duties. Businesses should be working with their Chamber of Commerce, organisations such as Trade and Investment South Africa and the Export Council for their industry in order to see what potential opportunities exist in foreign markets. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in addition to negotiating these agreements offers incentives subsidise businesses travel to foreign markets for trade missions, exhibitions and to do market research.