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saibl is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The program is implemented by the Corporate Council on Africa, ECIAfrica and the National Business Initiative under a strategic partnership agreement with the South African Department of Trade and Industry.

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Please join us for the Southern Africa Specialty Foods Forum on Thursday, May 20th at Wesgro in Cape Town. The event is being hosted by USAID's saibl program and the Southern Africa Trade Hub as well as by Wesgro, the DTI’s Western Cape promotional agency. The supporters have also invited the South African Fine Food Association to answer questions about the newly formed association. This one-day training forum is designed for companies to get together to manage exporting expectations and define industry roles as well as address organic certification and labeling standards. We will also have pre-matched meetings between companies and industry experts from the United States. The forum will address the powerful factors making growth in this industry a long-term trend.

The event will feature Jon Seltzer of the Food Industry Center at the University of Minnesota and Laurance Milner of Something South Africa, a veteran of the specialty food sector and pioneer of South African specialty foods in North America. It will also feature David Byrnes of Integrated Organics Company and Nathan Dulley of LLB Imports. Integrated Organics Company develops brand management budgets and performs in-store audits of organic products for natural retail accounts, which include Whole Foods, the 190 stores that participate in the Coop Advantage program, Wegmans, as well as Harris Teeter. Nathan Dulley is the president of LBB Imports, a specialty food importing company that was recently named one of the 500 fastest growing businesses in America by Entrepreneur Magazine.

..::FOOD INDUSTRY NEWS::..

Out of Africa
Specialty Food Magazine
"In response to the consumer, distributors and retailers across the country have begun adding an African set to their international offerings… Africa is truly the last frontier for the specialty food industry, and what an exciting and gorgeous frontier it is."
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Target Tops Greenpeace Seafood Scorecard
Media Post Communications
Target has taken the top spot on the fourth and most recent Seafood Sustainability Scorecard from Greenpeace, with Wegman's coming in second, followed by Whole Foods.
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Giving Back: An Industry That Makes a Difference
Specialty Food Magazine
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of businesspeople in the specialty food industry have met the challenge of running profitable businesses while giving back. Not only do they care about sales, profits and their employees, they reach out to the hungry, the homeless and the sick.  Here are some examples of companies in the specialty food industry contributing to meaningful causes….
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The Next Best Thing: Does Jay Scott Hold the Future of Decent Store-bought Tomatoes in his Hands?
The Washington Post
In supermarket tomatodom, this is the Holy Grail: a fruit thick-skinned enough to shrug off the insults of modern agribusiness, but still tender at heart and tasting like, well, a tomato. And John "Jay" Scott might have discovered it.
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They Deliver, But do Their Diets?
The New York Times
After online searches and conversations with friends, I decided to compare the offerings of four companies: Zone Manhattan, Chefs Diet, Nu-Kitchen and eDiets. All four would deliver the meals to my door in Brooklyn. Three deliver daily, while the fourth, eDiets, sends a large package once a week. None of the companies knew I was a reporter.
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..::WINE NEWS::..

Spier Wins Top International Wine Competition
WOSA
The awards this year included over 6,000 wines from four continents. South African wines won 25 of the 604 gold awards, and two of the 60 great golds, with Spier being the top performer in the country and third top performer in the world.
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Vintages That Match the Views
The New York Times
In the three and a half centuries since, lush green vineyards have carpeted the valley floors around Cape Town, and grande dame estates like Vergelegen have regularly earned top accolades in international wine publications and competitions. And smaller, newer wineries are getting attention with exciting, experimental blends.
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South African Wine Producers: Financial Difficulties Loom
African Business Review
Industry experts have said that with an increase of 8.1 percent on wine and 8.9 percent on spirits, the government is failing to recognize wine producers’ financial difficulties ...
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New Federal Bill Worries Wineries
Napa Valley Register
The National Beer Wholesalers Association is pushing H.R.5034, which critics say will allow states to regulate direct shipments of out-of-state wine sales into their states. Wineries worry that could hamper some sales of wine.
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Wine Tax Overturn Praised
Tweed Daily News
Tweed winemaker Mark Quinn has praised the Federal Government for not replacing the existing wine tax as the Henry Tax Review suggested, saying it would have spelled death for the Australian wine industry.
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