Marula oil goes overseas

The manufacturer of the marula seed oil will form part of a business delegation comprising seventeen companies on an Outward Selling Mission (OSM) organised by the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (the dtic). The objective of the OSM is to promote South Africa’s natural ingredients sector in order to establish a market presence in Spain, Europe, and the rest of the world. In-cosmetics is the world’s leading trade fair and the most important industry meeting point for the cosmetic ingredient sector.

The companies will be showcasing their expertise in Moringa Powder, Moringa Oil, Organic Dried Rosemary, and Natural Marula Oil ingredients. Speaking at their factory in Phalaborwa just before departing for the trade show, the owner of The Marula Company, Marelize van der Westhuizen says they will use the exhibition to promote the advantages of the marula seed oil and other products. “Our aim will also be to push sales with our existing and potential distributors in order to penetrate other markets that have never heard of the marula seeds oil benefits.

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The show will also give us an opportunity to see if we cannot do business directly with end-users of our products instead of using intermediaries,” says Van der Westhuizen. According to Van der Westhuizen, this may afford them an opportunity to put up a bigger refinery in Limpopo will see them supporting more villages that supply the company with raw materials. The company, which employs about 30 people and an additional 15 during the peak season, contracts 850 women in villages to supply them with marula kernels and nuts.

“Even though we sell our products online we also have agents in the United States and Germany. Unfortunately, most of these platforms do not allow us to sell in bulk, which is the main focus of our company. We are looking at other countries as well as outside the continent where we can sell the seed oil in bulk,” she says. Van der Westhuizen further adds the bulk of their oil seed is sold internally while the rest is used locally by the cosmetics industry and small businesses.

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The Marula Company supports 22 villages in Phalaborwa, Phalabeni, Selwane, Hoedspruit, and Acornhoek where they have 850 registered harvesters and 98% of the women live in five different municipal areas of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The OSM is a collaboration between the dtic and the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) whose overall objective is to integrate developing countries into world trade.