Time to Hug A South African Farmer

Looking outside South Africa’s borders to members of the international community, 2022 hasn’t given us much to smile about. Continued COVID restrictions and hard lockdowns in Asia have disrupted many supply chains and hindered global commerce. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hiked oil prices and created a global scarcity of essential inputs – particularly for the agricultural sector. Reserve banks across North America and Europe have raised interest rates leaving global markets in a mess. To memory, there has not been another time in history when the USA, UK, and Germany verge on financial recession while China grapples with a property market collapse.

The good news is that compared to the above geopolitical problems, South Africa is in relatively good shape. Our inflation rate of 7.8% (albeit high) is for the first time in many years on par or lower than many of our trading partners (Germany, USA, UK & Eurozone).¹ This is largely due to our self-sufficiency in the food production, agriculture and mining sectors. It’s time to hug a South African farmer and say thank you for providing us with food security. While you’re at it – hug a miner, fisherman, and manufacturer too!

SwiftVEE 2022 and Beyond

Speaking on matters closer to home, 2022 has been an excellent year for SwiftVEE. We have once again grown sales on our core business at roughly over 100% year-on-year. We have posted sales growth of over 1000% since launching in 2019. The meteoric growth of our business in tough macroeconomic conditions is nothing short of exceptional. While I’d love to take credit for this achievement as SwiftVEE’s CEO, all kudos go to the SwiftVEE team and their standards of excellence. In all my years of entrepreneurship and numerous ventures in commerce, I’ve never worked with such a diligent, talented, and passionate group of people. Thanks to the team for inspiring me to match their excellence each and every day!

SwiftVEE’s continued growth in a post-COVID world demonstrates that online livestock trading is here to stay and trending in line with growth metrics in the USA, UK, Australia, and Europe. There will always be a place for physical auctions where buyers and sellers can connect and enjoy the social element of livestock trading. However, with rising fuel prices and the inherent difficulty of travelling to auctions in remote areas, the benefits of purchasing livestock online from anywhere in the country are palpable. Moreover, during the recent Foot-and-Mouth trading restrictions, SwiftVEE has played a pivotal role in facilitating the sale of livestock without the need for animals to be transported during travel bans.

This year, I am also proud to report that SwiftVEE has further expanded its international footprint into Sub-Saharan countries. We have conducted successful auctions in Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe and see these markets as significant growth areas next year. We have already received auction bookings for 2023 from new clients in these markets and beyond. To book your auction for 2023, click here.

2022 New Product Performance

This year, SwiftVEE launched several new products which have been well-received by the market:

Webcast advertising packages for corporate sponsors

SwiftVEE has a unique audience of tech-savvy farmers with exceptional buying power all watching SwiftVEE auctions online. We recently launched a Webcast Advertising service that allows corporate sponsors to advertise their products during SwiftVEE online auctions. This marketing channel works on the same principle as television advertising which promotes brands during televised events (think MTN’s branding advertised on television during Springbok rugby matches). Our webcast advertising business has provided great value to corporate partners who have credited SwiftVEE’s webcast advertising with boosting their sales and brand awareness. We are pleased to work with major brands in the Agri industry such as John Deere, Voermol, Alzu, Farm Ranger, Old Mutual Insure, and Landbou Weekblad to assist them in boosting their sales through SwiftVEE’s webcast advertising. We look forward to welcoming more sponsors to our online auctions next year. See the link for details on how to become a corporate sponsor of SwiftVEE’s webcast advertising packages. Grow your company’s sales and brand awareness by clicking here.

Premium farmer marketing packages for online auctions

SwiftVEE also launched a premium digital marketing product available to farmers when booking his/her online auction. Our internal marketing team with the support of Google Launchpad now enables farmers to reach maximum buyers and exposure to boost sales at their auctions.

This product has been exceptionally successful at boosting online sales, in some instances as much as a 100% increase in online sales at farmer auctions. I strongly encourage all farmers and agencies conducting auctions with SwiftVEE to book a premium digital marketing package for their next auction and measure the sales increases for themselves. More information on how to do this is available here.

Partnering with the biggest companies in Africa

This year marks a further strengthening of our relationship with key corporate partners. We are proud to partner with Old Mutual Insure and Landbou Weekblad to offer digital livestock insurance and premium media content through our online channels. We are delighted to be the leader in online livestock trading in Africa and work with the continent’s largest company and 7th largest company by market cap. See the links provided to access Veesure and Landbouweekblad Media below.

Conclusion

At SwiftVEE, we have always been guided by the vision that technology innovation is the best vehicle to help farmers produce efficiently and trade profitably. SwiftVEE’s livestock trading platform is a major success story enabling farmers to sell livestock at higher prices for increased profitability. The hard launch of PrysWys in 2023 will extend this vision to empower farmers to produce efficiently. We pride ourselves on being of service and reinventing agriculture through technology. Reach out and see how SwiftVEE’s technology can help you.