Apple celebration days in the Cape

While the fruit industry’s founding location in Cape Town is often up for debate, in the minds of the apple industry 17 April 1662 certainly saw the planting of the first apple trees in the country.

The first fresh fruit at the Cape may have been harvested some years earlier – in the form of Muskadel table grapes, which are still grown and harvested at the Cape every year.

But there is no doubt that the apple sector has since become one of the cornerstones of the country’s fresh produce sector.

The heritage of the South African apple sector is guarded, in this case, mainly by leading exporter Tru-Cape Marketing, which annually commemorates the first plantings.

Tru-Cape recalls that on 17 April 17, 363 years ago, the seeds for one of South Africa’s most significant agricultural industries were sown—quite literally.

“On 17 April 1662, Dutch Governor Jan van Riebeeck made a humble but historic diary entry in the Company Gardens in Cape Town,” the group explained.

”It states that there was ’Heavy drizzle in the morning and a strong north-westerly wind blowing in from the sea. Today the first two ripe Dutch apples were picked in the Company’s nursery garden… This type of apple is known as a Wijnappel’.

”Since then, the apple industry has become one of South Africa’s leading fruit sectors and crucial to the country’s agricultural economy,” Tru-Cape continued. “It now feeds the world and sustains thousands of local livelihoods.

“Those first Wijnappels picked from a tree just 1.5 metres tall, may have seemed modest in size – but they were the start of something extraordinary.

”Today, South Africa is one of the Southern Hemisphere’s top apple exporters, with apples grown in regions such as the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and even Limpopo,” it noted.

According to veteran apple industry expert Henk Griessel, Tru-Cape’s quality assurance manager and co-author of Early Apples at The Cape, it is a date every South African apple grower should remember.

“It’s where our story began,” he said. ”The fact that Tru-Cape continues to preserve older varieties in our Heritage Orchard at Oak Valley Estate in Grabouw shows our commitment to honouring the past while preparing for the future.”

As the leading marketer of apples and pears from Ceres Fruit Growers and Two-A-Day Group, Tru-Cape said it was at the forefront of the sector.

“With a grower base representing more than 20 per cent of the country’s apple exports and supplying 105 markets with South African apples, Tru-Cape is instrumental in opening new markets, ensuring fruit quality, and driving innovation from orchard to export terminal.”

“Tru-Cape’s role goes far beyond marketing – we’re involved in everything from cultivar innovation, quality assurance, and sustainability to investing in market access and technology that improves traceability and efficiency,” said Roelf Pienaar, managing director of Tru-Cape.

“The birthday of our industry is a reminder of the legacy we’re entrusted with – and the future we’re building,” he added.