March 11, 2020—Nine months after exhibiting at the 2019 Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City, South Africa’s PURA Beverage has reported its first consignment of naturally flavored soft drinks to a U.S. buyer. Confirmed in an email from PURA’s chief executive, the consignment, which includes five 40-foot containers valued at a total of approximately $125,000, left for Chicago, Illinois on February 28, 2020. From there, the roughly 12,500 cases, representing seven beverage varieties, will be shipped to retailers by two U.S. distributors, including to a supermarket chain based in Texas. PURA Beverage hopes to leverage this initial deal by securing other buyers, including, potentially, Publix Super Markets, Inc. and Kroger Company. The Cape Town-based company was one of 25 exhibitors from seven southern African countries exhibiting at last year’s Summer Fancy Food Show. Their participation was made possible by support from the USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub, which procured booth space at the event and developed marketing materials to showcase the Africa Fine Foods Pavilion brand. PURA will also be exhibiting at the 2020 Summer Fancy Food Show, scheduled for June 28-30 in New York City.