Leading fresh produce company Capespan has picked up a major award from the Cape Town Regional Chamber of Commerce for its contribution to the country's export business.

Accepting the Exporter of the Year award, which sponsored by South Africa's largest consumer bank ABSA, at a ceremony held at Cape Town's Westin Grand Hotel, Capespan managing director Neil Oosthuizen stressed that winning the award was a tribute to the impressive calibre of the group's staff and dedicated the award to each staff member throughout the world.

Capespan was a previous award winner in 2004, but according to Mr Oosthuizen this didn’t detract from the joy of receiving this year's prize in the face of 'formidable competition'.

Acccording to Chamber president Dr Gerald Wolman, the standard of entries was so high that the judges had to increase the number of finalists from the traditional six to eight.

In the initial judging round, the focus was on export volumes, financials, growth and job creation. In the second round, the judges visited all the semi-finalists’ businesses to verify submission details and explored innovation, new services and products, and social involvement.

Half of the entries were from the food and agricultural sectors, the economic backbone of South Africa's Western Cape, with Capespan leading the way.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Oosthuizen touched on the challenges facing the fruit industry. 'As is the case with global organisations the world over, the Capespan group has to grapple with external negative factor that are impeding industry development,' he commented. 'The most pertinent of these being the international monetary crisis, food inflation and global warming. Locally, the industry also is facing various issues and will be at pains to take remedial action.'

Looking ahead, Mr Oosthuizen said visionary leadership, imaginative thinking and courage to act were needed. 'And in doing so, Capespan will at all times value people, while building long-term partnerships and relationships. Thus, to guarantee exceptional services, Capespan has examined ways to elevate our service delivery and offering to the highest levels.'

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