Namib Chilli to hit European markets
Three years after Johann and Luzaan Viljoen began selling brandy sauces, Namib Chilli will soon export its first shipment to Europe.
After Johann Viljoen and his wife, Luzaan, were forced to start selling brandy sauces during the Covid-19 pandemic, this authentic Namibian product will soon hit European shelves.The Viljoen couple worked in the hospitality industry for years before their future plans were thrown into disarray when restrictions brought the tourism and hospitality sector to its knees.
More than two years after setting up Namib Chilli, Johann contacted a manufacturer of chilli sauces in South Africa and realised that they would have to export the sauces for the business to be successful.
"There are 2.5 million people in Namibia, of which 2 500 eat chilli sauces and 2 000 make their own. We cannot survive on the local market and we cannot sell in South Africa because there is already a large distributor. So I realised I was going to have to go big," he said.
"I'm a Dopper [Reformed church member] and we do everything by the book. I then asked the Lord to give me a sign if we were to start performing - it was Friday. Four days later we were invited to exhibit at the Swaitex International Trade Fair with a sponsored stall," he says.
Here Johann met representatives of the Namibian Chamber of Commerce (NCCI) and the possibility of exports was discussed.
"Right there was the sign," he says of that moment.
However, Johann says that starting to export products is not as simple as it may appear. "I started looking for distributors on the internet and emailed them about our sauces and many said they would like to try the sauces. We sent them, but many haven't tried it yet. The distributors are inundated with different people's sauces and they just don't get through everyone's," he says.
Johan says foreign markets can mean overnight success for Namib Chilli.
"In America, they consumed 1.6 million liters of chilli sauce last year - if I can get just 1% of this market, I'd go crazy. . . In England they sell more chilli sauce than tomato sauce," he says.
Johann is currently hard at work preparing thousands of bottles of brandy sauce to export to Germany in collaboration with the German distributor Chilli Food.
"We are still just busy with the logistical planning to carry it out," he says.
Johann also says that possibilities in the UK beckon.
Plans to export Namib Chilli's sauces - seven in total - abroad are also currently in the pipeline.
"Seven bottles weigh just enough that you don't have to spend too much on export costs. So we are working on people being able to buy seven bottles, then have them delivered to their homes abroad," he says. – [email protected]