SA brands including Bickford’s and Beerenberg land deal with US grocery chain Central Market

Iconic South Australian brands will be stocked on shelves in a high-end Texan grocery store from June - after securing the deal over Zoom in 2020.

A Texan supermarket chain will be stocking iconic South Australian brands from June under a lucrative new deal secured in Zoom pitch meetings during the pandemic.

Beerenberg and Bickford’s are among nine SA companies whose products will be stocked in Central Market, which has 10 high-end grocery stores in Texas.

Penfield Olives, Oleapak Olive Oil, T-Bar, Robern Menz, Pure Origins Honey, and Tucker’s Natural crackers will also be stocked.

The first shipment will be sent from Adelaide today with $150,000 worth of goods.

It’s a welcome sign for trade with the United States after SA’s exports to the country dropped to their lowest in 21 years in 2020.

Beerenberg – one of 19 local companies that made a virtual Zoom pitch to Central Market late last year – will be sending its “Random Acts of Flavor” range to the US, with relishes, chutneys and jams.

Jacki Gilbert showcasing some of the Beerenberg products being exported to Texas, pictured in the farm’s strawberry field. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

The company’s marketing director Sally Paech said it would be a chance to explore the Texas market, which offered a “huge opportunity” for premium brands.

“Our goal, as we developed a range designed especially for the US market, is to have one container a week leaving the Adelaide Hills bound for the US market,” Ms Paech said.

Trade Minister Stephen Patterson said SA’s trade and investment office established in Houston, Texas in March 2020 was instrumental in connecting local businesses with Central Market.

“We are seeing positive results from our trade office policy, particularly in the US, and we want to continue to create more opportunities like the Central Market deal to support SA companies and local jobs growth,” he said.

SA has also opened a new trade office in New York.

Trade Minister Stephen Patterson, with Premier Steven Marshall (left). Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Food SA chief executive Catherine Sayer, who helped SA’s Houston-based trade representative Regina Johnson link local businesses with Central Market, said targeting retail chains overseas would be a key opportunity for SA companies during Covid-1, when many restaurants and cafes overseas remained closed.

Sam Tucker, managing director of Tucker’s Natural, said the US was a “significant opportunity to continue to grow our family business”.

Bickford’s international sales manager Simon Sparrow said the Texas deal would “only help build the Bickford’s brand awareness in the US”.

SA’s exports to the US have declined in recent years, and dipped to $891 million in 2020 - the lowest point since 1999, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

At it’s peak, SA sent more than $2bn worth of goods to the US.

Trade with China by comparison soared above $3.4bn in 2020, although that is set to drop after the nation slapped massive import taxes on Australia wine in November last year.