Meaco dehumidifiers in South Africa

Very interesting trip last week to South Africa to learn about how and where dehumidifiers  are used, to see what is different to the European market and what is similar.  It was my first visit to South Africa and I was lucky to have as my guide my South African distributor Simon Brewer of Kovdor Trading who we have been working with for a few years now.  Simon has spent most of his life in Southern Africa and knows the market, the people and the climate intimately and was able to guide me through the complexities of the country.

I landed in Cape Town on the Sunday after an overnight flight from Heathrow and settled into the local culture with a tour of a restuarnt, a couple of bars and a vineyard whilst all the time enjoying the stunning coastal scenery and some rather unpredictable and very British weather.

Monday it was down to work and it soon became clear that the climate in Cape Town is not dissimilar to Europe and the driving factors for a dehumidifier are very similar to the British market.  Low overnight temperatures in winter create the perfect conditions for mould and condensation to form, householders, who are fed up with mopping up puddles of water off their windowsills or are distressed by the levels of mould on outside walls, are driven to look for a solution.  A theme that was to remain constant throughout the week is the lack of understanding in South Africa that a should dehumidifier be used as a solution for these problems.  This is something that we suffer from in the U.K. as well as dehumidifier use is still not that widespread.  But the market is more established in the U.K., so knowledge is more widespread and greater use of the internet in the here means that it is easier to get the message out there that dehumidifiers can provide the answer to damp issues like condensation and mould.

After a day and a half of successful meetings we headed east out of Cape Town along the Garden Route towards George and Port Elizabeth where we stopped to meet several small companies who were supplying dehumidifiers to meet all sorts of requirements from damp bungalows through to factories drying Biltong.

It was along this part of the journey that we meet up with some independent retailers who were impressed by our new colourful packaging that has been designed to not only make the Meaco brand stand out but also tells a story about the benefits of dehumidifiers and our unique selling points.

An overnight stop in Port Elizabeth, the base for Kovdor Trading, allowed me to see Simon’s wonderful office with it’s 180° view of the ocean where Simon claims he often sits and watches Dolphins and Whales pass by.  Unfortunately our tight schedule only allowed me 10 minutes of staring at the waves and I was not lucky on this occasion so I will have to take his word for it.

In Port Elizabeth we visited the Nelson Mandela stadium, one of several built for the football world cup, to consult on a potential application in the bowels of the stadium.  A quick stop for a photo opportunity by the pitch and then on to a training session with Simon’s staff to bring them up to speed with all of Meaco’s latest dehumidifier developments.  In the afternoon we flew to Durban to meet up with several companies who are already well established in selling dehumidifiers but they lack the sophistication of the Meaco range and the fine tuning we have done to refine our drying range to the high standards that we achieve.

The weather in Durban is closer to that of Hong Kong than that of Guildford and the product is more likely to be used in the summer to reduce the moisture content on sticky summer days or to look after holiday homes whilst their owners are away so that they do not return to musty smells and mouldy walls.

Throughout we came across a wide range of applications from those mentioned above to looking after boats in winter or a caravan when not in use (caravanning is not just a British pastime you see), indoor swimming pools, health clubs, classic car storage, drying processes in factories and the South African passion for leather jackets that have a habit of deteriorating in humid conditions.

Finally we headed north to Johannesburg where the streets are alive with traders offering you everything from a newspaper or a coupon for a free coffee at every set of traffic lights through to insect nets to protect your food or toilet roll holders!  Just what you need whilst you wait for the lights to turn green?!

Once again the level of understanding about what makes a Meaco dehumidifier special was clear to see and the enthusiasm with which we were received makes me confident that Meaco will be trading strongly in South Africa for many years to come.

Looking back over the week I can see the Meaco DD8L Junior doing well in Cape Town with its lower overnight temperatures and it’s many boat owners.  As in Asia I think that the Meaco 20L will be the product of choice in the more humid climate of Durban while we could do well with our specialist swimming pool dehumidifiers in the high value estates outside of Durban with their half in, half out pools.

Johannesburg should be more mixed with the Meaco 10L possibly doing well in the town’s apartments and the Meaco 50L and 60L potentially promising strong demand in the areas commercial sectors.

I really enjoyed my time in South Africa and look I will be returning in 2012 to follow through on the applications we discussed and to see how the new dealers are getting on.  There is a lot of work to do to educate the market but this is what we are good at and we look forward to the challenge.

Products featured: Meaco 50Lm,  Meaco 10L, Meaco DD8L Junior