Importing sweets to South Africa

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Pixelbender

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Hi guys, a friend of mine would like to import sweets (candy) from China into South Africa and would like to know where to start.

He's got a few portuguese friends who will sell the candy in their shops, he just needs to bring it in, so getting set-off points is not the issue.

There are obviously customs to be paid, he also needs to register as an importer at SARS and of course a Department of health issue, but those as basic/factual stuff, he needs more information, or if anybody knows where to find someone who is already importing candy, and would help out, that would be great or even a 3rd party importing agent.

Anyway, where is the best place to start?
 
a friend of mine ...
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;)

Sweets/candy = high-volume . Hopefully those portugese friends run cash and carrys or wholesale businesses, cause you'll need to import at least 1 container load (not feasilbe for air-freight).

To me, the most important thing is getting approval from the regulatory health board/s.

You want to make sure you have all your bases covered concerning importing a food product, as contamination/illness from your product can put you/friend into a high-risk predicament.

I think you actually have all the important things covered.

There are obviously customs to be paid, he also needs to register as an importer at SARS and of course a Department of health issue, but those as basic/factual stuff, he needs more information, or if anybody knows where to find someone who is already importing candy, and would help out, that would be great or even a 3rd party importing agent.
Click to expand...

  • Get samples, get approved from health board/s/DH
  • Register a private company
  • Get import approval (SARS)
  • Find import agent/bulk importer to handle the importing for you
  • Find "clean" storage space for the product
  • If self-importing, find logistics partner
  • Setup your own product delivery from warehouse to clients
  • Build/Setup pricing/ERP system
  • Search for a lawyer (for the business, but be careful not to pay for business registration and other easy things, as this can be done on your own)
  • Search for accountant to sign-off books (your systems should do the accounting automatically)
  • You'll need a VAT license at R1 million+ revenue

It's hard to accurately define a good step-by-step process, as each business is different and each owner/entrepreneur works differently.

As far as importing goes, the main difficulties are around getting the product to SA, then to your warehouse, then to your clients. So it is primarily about logistics/cost/supply.

Hope my info helps.

Good luck
 
Last edited:
mercurial said:
Is the name Pixelbender an alias for the iPhone 6?
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Ha ha, no my name says PixelBender, not Pixel****.

Actually, no, just kidding, I loved my iPhone of the last 3 years, BUT, I'll be moving to Android soon, just annoying not to be able to rename pics/files/videos and/or transfer music without having to sign in to Apple ID and/or downloading 3rd party apps and crap like that.
 
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Thank you noob_saibot, Very, very helpful, this will give THEM (not me - seriously) some direction. It's difficult to really find something comprehensive where the page actually gives you all the steps, it usually just covers a few of the steps, depending on what service they are trying to offer you, the rest is your problem. I'll also tell them about the China Fair coming up in Nov. Just don't think it covers food or sweets.

noob_saibot said:
;)

Sweets/candy = high-volume . Hopefully those portugese friends run cash and carrys or wholesale businesses, cause you'll need to import at least 1 container load (not feasilbe for air-freight).

To me, the most important thing is getting approval from the regulatory health board/s.

You want to make sure you have all your bases covered concerning importing a food product, as contamination/illness from your product can put you/friend into a high-risk predicament.

I think you actually have all the important things covered.



  • Get samples, get approved from health board/s/DH
  • Register a private company
  • Get import approval (SARS)
  • Find import agent/bulk importer to handle the importing for you
  • Find "clean" storage space for the product
  • If self-importing, find logistics partner
  • Setup your own product delivery from warehouse to clients
  • Build/Setup pricing/ERP system
  • Search for a lawyer (for the business, but be careful not to pay for business registration and other easy things, as this can be done on your own)
  • Search for accountant to sign-off books (your systems should do the accounting automatically)
  • You'll need a VAT license at R1 million+ revenue

It's hard to accurately define a good step-by-step process, as each business is different and each owner/entrepreneur works differently.

As far as importing goes, the main difficulties are around getting the product to SA, then to your warehouse, then to your clients. So it is primarily about logistics/cost/supply.

Hope my info helps.

Good luck
Click to expand...
 
Sorry to be negative but no way would i eat sweets from china.
 
Pixelbender said:
Hi guys, a friend of mine would like to import sweets (candy) from China into South Africa
Click to expand...

Whats with the cheap Chinese imports??

n September 2008, there were more than 52,000 reported cases of children made sick by melamine-tainted dairy products in China. Most of the children were diagnosed with kidney problems. White Rabbit Creamy Candy was listed among the many milk-based food products made in China that were contaminated with melamine and was removed from store shelves. The same form of contamination was responsible for the Chinese melamine pet food contamination scandal in 2007, during which thousands of pet dogs and cats died of renal failure after eating pet food that contained melamine.
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Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rabbit_Creamy_Candy

About the only thing China WONT sell us is the exiled Dalai Lama.
 
Turkey has taken over the market as as imports are concerned. There's a massive importer in Crown Mines.

If you can create a market then it's possible.
 
Pixelbender said:
Hi guys, a friend of mine would like to import sweets (candy) from China into South Africa and would like to know where to start.
Click to expand...

If you want to import upmarket Candy to compete with the likes of Lindt, get some Japanese chocolates such as Glico's Pocky. It's the best chocolate covered biscuit in the world and there are some premium flavours. But importing the Chinese stuff is asking for trouble. Obviously with Japanese chocolates there will be fears of contamination from Fukushima although the things sell in the US and EU, and they're not concerned. An alternative is to get Pocky manufactured in Europe by Kraft under license from Glico and is called Mikado but they only do the basic flavours. Check asianfoodgrocer.com
 
They wont import chocolate, nor creamy stuff, they're looking at one or two specific types, like hard candy and soft candy and I think they will brand it as theirs. It wont come in Chinese packs.

@WaxLyrical It's not about creating a market, they have a few shops, so the market is there. Will have a look at Turkeys offerings too.
 
Pixelbender said:
They wont import chocolate, nor creamy stuff, they're looking at one or two specific types, like hard candy and soft candy and I think they will brand it as theirs. It wont come in Chinese packs.
Click to expand...

Why not look to produce something local and stimulate the economy?
 
Pixelbender said:
They wont import chocolate, nor creamy stuff, they're looking at one or two specific types, like hard candy and soft candy and I think they will brand it as theirs. It wont come in Chinese packs.
Click to expand...

That's a bit scary. Will the package at least say their brand of sweets is made in China?
 
Chinese sweets? Can they be trusted? Immediately makes me wonder whether they'll be laced with melamine or some other dicey compound. Every week there's a tainted food scandal in China.
 
I would just give this to a local import company and let them handle all the paperwork and junk....
Personally I don't understand why you would bother with sweets
 
TEXTILE GUY said:
Why not look to produce something local and stimulate the economy?
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Not entirely sure, must be a price thing. I'm sure they want to stimulate their own economy. Our economy runs on average at R400 p/h, then the company will charge them R400 p/h to keep the machine running and R400 p/h per staff member working on it, while only paying the staff member R70 p/h.

Just wanted to get them started and let them know where to start. They're asking the questions, I'm just trying to find answers.

@maumau
Im sure the package must say where it was made and where its imported to.
 
Other thing is: They've had this sweet overseas and it was great and they saw this sweet is available in China, they've never seen this sweet available locally and would like to import it directly. So then they will need a local manufacturers to reproduce that quality and consistency. Of course they wont tell me which one it is.
 
Arthur said:
Chinese sweets? Can they be trusted? Immediately makes me wonder whether they'll be laced with melamine or some other dicey compound. Every week there's a tainted food scandal in China.
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We already have Chinese sweets on the market - in Pick 'n Pay.

Along with ones from lots of countries, inlcuding Poland, UAE, Greece, Germany etc..
 
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