Sourcing South Africa

Next generation of entrepreneurs

After training and coaching a group of 29 small and medium businesses in South Africa - and bringing them to European trade fairs, it is time for a next generation of entrepreneurs to take their first steps towards the EU market. The ‘Development by Design’ project provides a fast track to the export market, and the kick-off workshop was held in Cape Town in May 2017.

Craftscurator had the honor of initiating this project, and delivering the training, in collaboration with South African expert Solly Levy. Together, they made a selection of 20 companies with export potential. Their criteria for selection? Design, design and design! (And commitment, potential, production capacity and a good price point of course).

Sourcing for new suppliers is always great, but Craftscurator also made visits to the workshops of exporters participating in the running programme, who will be showing at Maison & Objet this September. They have been working on new product development in the last months, and it was exciting to see the new collections taking shape, and giving feedback on the products.

Watch this space for information on where to see the new product ranges. 12 companies are participating in SARCDA Johannesburg August 24-27, and 10 South African exporters will exhibit at Maison & Objet, September 8-12, 2017.