Digital tools help when dry bean outlook is uncertain

The HelloChoice online platform allows farmers to easily find buyers for their commodities, bringing with it improved transparency and security.

The predictions for South Africa’s dry bean harvest this year range from negative outlooks from farmers heavily affected by the rain, to positive reviews based on recently released data from industry leaders. At the end of January 2022, many expected the total 2021/22 summer crop plantings to be at

4,21 million hectares, up 0,4% from the previous production season.

Higher agricultural input costs, load-shedding, and increased electricity and fuel costs are still affecting farmers, buyers and consumers.

No one knows what this year’s dry bean harvest will yield in terms of quality or quantity. In these uncertain times, digital trading platforms such as HelloChoice are therefore essential, as they provide the market with increased transparency, reliability and stability.

SERVICES AND BENEFITS

With its fully digital and transparent trading platform, HelloChoice brings new efficiencies and benefits to both sellers and buyers, where everyone in the supply chain can see the latest pricing and related supply and demand dynamics in real time.

HelloChoice’s trading platform offers reliable grading and tracking services, as well as direct connections between multiple sellers and buyers, and overcomes cash flow risks.

The platform offers a variety of trading options, too, each one enabling higher profit margins for farmers, as well as lower prices and more choice for buyers. The entire marketplace is therefore infinitely more efficient, with both buyers and sellers able to boost their competitiveness and have confidence in the products they are trading.

Farmers can also set a pricing anchor prior to harvest, with HelloChoice’s Future Contract feature enabling them to secure a specific price with a buyer for a portion of their yield. This service assists in establishing the overall market prices, and gives security to both sellers and buyers ahead of the harvest period.

Additional peace of mind for both parties comes from the grading, tracking and tracing service that HelloChoice offers to the dry bean sector. The platform offers an on-site dry bean grading process that measures all required key indicators in order to reliably grade stock that is then sealed and labelled, allowing for the tracking and traceability thereof.

This process brings market security to farmers at the point of harvest, and gives buyers the confidence they require when it comes to the lots purchased.

Other digital trading options include daily auctions, with products listed through the HelloChoice mobile app.

The Buy-It-Now Marketplace and the TradeAlerts features further streamline the process, so users can set their own trade preferences and receive in-app messages and emails when trade opportunities meeting their requirements become available.

Visit hellochoice.co.za for more information and download the new HelloChoice app free of charge for Apple and Android devices.