South Africa’s leading table grape grower and exporter, the Karsten Group, has been honoured by leading UK supermarket group Tesco as its International grower of the Year for the Southern Hemisphere.
Speaking after the awards ceremony in London, Piet Karsten paid tribute to the efforts of staff and farm workers at the Karsten Group’s estates along South Africa’s Orange River. “We always strive to supply only the best quality and service to our international customers and we appreciate the recognition we have received,” he said.
Tesco’s Head of Produce Sourcing Tim Lee presented the award to Mr Karsten at Tesco’s award ceremony. He said that the winners were nominated by the Produce Group Sourcing team as suppliers demonstrating great dedication to Tesco, showing true leadership in their ability to understand the Tesco business and to deliver to Tesco’s customers.
“These awards were started to recognise the Tesco direct supply base who are delivering to Tesco’s International, UK and Asian businesses,” he said.
The Karsten group was founded by Mr Karsten during the 1970s, and since the early 1980s Karsten Farms has consistently been one of the country’s leading grape producers. The group expects to ship around 3m cartons this year. It also produces grapes in Egypt which are marketed between May and July to expand the group’s marketing activities.
