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As food security concerns, climate change and global economic uncertainty increase the strain on South Africa’s R346 billion agricultural sector, Agri-Fintech startup, HelloChoice, brings essential innovation and efficiency to the farming and food supply value chain.
This month, HelloChoice celebrates its fourth birthday as a proudly South African success story, emerging as a leading full-service Agri-Fintech platform and having traded over R190 million worth of fresh produce, dry beans and other unstructured crops. The HelloChoice marketplace, supporting information and data services such as TradeAlerts, reduces waste, makes trading easy and saves money for farmers, food processing companies, and wholesalers and retailers.
Building on this success, HelloChoice secured a major strategic 25% investment in 2021 from Standard Bank to expand its marketplace technology, and enhance the information and data services available to users. They now have more ways to trade and have access to powerful supply and demand tools and pricing services to help increase margins and overall profitability.
TradeAlerts mobile app
Significant resources continue to be invested in the HelloChoice mobile app to bring users greater value, such as TradeAlerts, Make an Offer, and Green Numbers Precision Pricing.
Uncertain dry beans outlook requires digital trade tools
Powerful data-driven services from HelloChoice help producers transform their farms into agile and profitable digital businesses. Sellers can also take up digital marketing services such as FarmerPages to instantly reach thousands of wholesale buyers.
Green Numbers Precision Pricing
Golden Grow, a commercial mixed farmer, used HelloChoice’s Green Numbers Precision Pricing service to improve its supply and pricing decisions during its last potato season. “This is an invaluable service in that we knew where to trade our potatoes and at what price,” said Golden Grow farm manager, Justin le Roux.
HelloChoice continues to promote economic prosperity through transparency, efficiency and inclusion by bringing supply chain efficiencies to farmers. More than 360 smallholder and emerging farmers have traded on HelloChoice, benefiting directly from easy market access to a large buyer base and a quick payment cycle. HelloChoice co-founder and CEO, Grant Jacobs, explained: “Providing online market access is a powerful tool for all farmers”.
Dawn Farms is just one example of the emerging farm success stories from HelloChoice. Judith Biti, the founder of Dawn Farms, has been farming for just over a year and now owns two small farms. She mostly grows butternut, green pepper, kale, spinach and green beans. Judith explains that because of HelloChoice, Dawn Farms are now able to expand into a sustainable business while continuing to feed the neighbouring homes.
Contact HelloChoice at 033 815 1036 or visit www.hellochoice.co.za. Download the new HelloChoice app here: Apple and Android.
