There’s nothing more precious than learning from your parents, and according to co-founder of A&B Williams fruit distributors, Bevin Williams, “experience is one thing money can’t buy”.
For 25 years Williams built his expertise through the lens of his father’s business mind. Today, as a business owner himself, he shifts and shapes contextually for the markets.
“My father was mostly a jumbo guy. And when we started our business we wanted to expand our business and produce fruit 12 months a year. That’s where we started building share rooms to have excess right through the year,” he explains.
But what is interesting about the Williams’ business module is that they purchase fruit within a season, but store it in their store rooms. They are constantly being innovative, with a 50% export market and another 50% local market.
“Export is difficult, it is all about quality. We must make 100% sure that the quality is good that you put in a box. Put the right fruit on the market at the right time. I don’t follow programmes, I want to pack fruit when the market is ready, that is my biggest aim,” he explains.
During the episode, Williams also discusses:
- Lessons in the export market; and
- Future plans
Catching up with a #SoilSista
Also, another #Soilsista is celebrated in this week’s podcast, Thobeka Mbatha, a poultry farmer who googled her way to success. She is one of the inspiring women who was selected for the Corteva Women Agripreneur 2022, a year-long blended development programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).
Want to know more? Listen to the full episode of Farmer’s Inside Track.
Option 1: Click here to listen on Spotify (all mobile and other devices).
Option 2: Click here to listen on any Apple device.
Option 3: Click here to listen on Google Podcast
Sign up for Farmer’s Inside Track: Join our exclusive platform for new entrants into farming and agri-business, with newsletters and podcasts.
