Food and drink for the discerning consumer were available for visitors at Africa’s Big 7 to sample.

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, spices, confectionary, vegetables and fruit all proved popular with event-goers keen to sample the produce of a wide variety of nations.

However, two of the most popular originated in the event’s host nation, South Africa.

Blackhorse Brewery specialises in craft beers, which is a widely growing market across the region. It produces a range of nine different drinks, two just available at its brewery in Magaliesseg, just outside Johannesburg.

“Events like this show enable smaller firms like us to reach out to a market which may not otherwise have been aware of our brand,” said the firm’s Paul Botha, pictured above.

“We are not able to command the large marketing budgets of larger companies. But this way we can reach people on a personal level.”

One of the firms most popular drinks is a pink alcoholic beverage.

“It was originally meant to be a girl’s drink but now you can see a burly guy with a beard and he has a pink drink in his hand. It’s become a really cool drink for guys. It’s for people who want something different.”

Spices which accompany traditional African dishes are the product of Minnies Food and Daniel David said that the show provided the perfect springboard for his plans to expand across Africa.

He said: “We can showcase our spices and the visitors can taste them, that’s the best way of showing the quality. We want to bring our foodstuffs to other countries in the region and with so many nationalities here this is the best place to do so.”