'Made in RSA' targets world markets with homegrown products

Nick Dreyer, the former CEO and co-founder of Veldskoen Shoes, has launched a new platform designed to promote South African-made goods in global markets.

Made in RSA combines e-commerce technology with a significant distribution partnership with DHL, allowing local brands to reach buyers in the US, EU, and Asia, even amid increasing trade barriers – including recent tariff hikes on South African products entering the American market.

Dreyer states that Made in RSA’s mission is simple: to help South African companies sell more internationally, so they can create more jobs locally.

"Made in RSA is a growth tech business, and it has two arms. One is technology, which involves the actual ability for those foreign customers to buy these products which we build. The second arm is, of course, the distribution side, where we've partnered with DHL... and it's a major partnership, which means that we can actually get products to those countries.

"The more we sell stuff from South Africa that is made by South Africans, the more people we will need to employ. That is the mission for Made in RSA.

"I think the world needs to realise that South Africa makes incredible things with incredibly talented people, artisans and business builders, and storytellers. Why shouldn't we just position ourselves as excellent or competitive on a world-class basis for manufacturing?"

Dreyer argues that the country consistently produces world-class goods, but suffers from a "confidence problem" that prevents local entrepreneurs from seeing themselves as globally competitive. 

His team plans to use strong storytelling, market positioning and tech-enabled logistics to shift that perception.

While US tariffs have hurt certain export sectors, Dreyer believes they have also disrupted the way things have been done in the past. 

"The key thing with the tariff is that the tariff has changed the world's procurement autopilot, which is to get it from the cheapest place in the world. Now, all procurement – whether it be in industry, hospitality, retail, wherever it is – there's a conversation around where to buy stuff from.

"That means that they've opened the door to countries like South Africa. It's our duty and opportunity, and the time is now, for us to charge through that door because we're part of the conversation for the first time, before it was near to impossible. But if anything, the tariff has opened the door, and now we need to charge through it."

To listen to Nick Dreyer in conversation with CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit, click the audio below: