In South Africa, growers are anticipating a strong topfruit export season in 2012, with volumes set to top the 40m carton-equivalent mark.
Hortgro Services has predicted that the topfruit industry will ship over 26.6m apples and 13.6m pears across the globe this year, with the apple figure representing growth of 4.4 per cent on the 25.5m carton-equivalents exported in 2011.
'Growers are predicting apple exports to date to be up by 6 per cent compared to the previous season, which is a great start to 2012,' said Jacques Du Preez, product manager for topfruit and stonefruit at Hortgro Services in South Africa. 'The quality and quantity of this year's topfruit will be very good.'
To back what could a larger export crop, South African growers are coordinating a European promotional campaign to boost both recognition and sales of topfruit across the UK and Germany – the third consecutive year that apple and pear sales have been supported by the 'Beautiful country, beautiful fruit' campaign.
Activity during the season will highlight South African apples and pears to UK consumers, with a range of in-store activities including tasting sessions, recipe giveaways and samples, as well as on-pack competitions and offers. The German promotion will work closely with retailers and will also include in-store promotions, tastings, leaflets and magazine promotions.
'The initiative is about highlighting the great quality fruit basket our country offers when it's at its most delicious, as well as the benefits of buying South African fruit, from the point of view of freshness and eating ethically,' Du Preez added. 'After two successful years of promotion in the UK, we're hoping to see similar results in Germany. Coordinating both campaigns gives us a consistent message of quality and season of South African fruit as well as bringing economies of scale to the process.'
