The country’s climate is seen as ideal for growing varieties that are in demand globally
South Africa’s kiwifruit production is based mainly on yellow fleshed varieties which, along with new plantings of red varieties, are expected to form the backbone of the export industry in future.
The first plantings of kiwifruit in the country date back more than 25 years, but for various reasons the local kiwifruit industry never really entered the export market.
Now things are different, because of newer yellow and red fleshed varieties that are better suited to the South African climate.
“The warmer South African climate is more suited to produce yellow and red flesh kiwis, given these varieties’ lower winter chill requirement,” said Pieter de Jongh of The Kiwi Connection.
The Kiwi Connection is a South Africa-owned company and is a joint venture between TopFruit and the RSA Group. Its services focus on the extensive evaluation of new varieties before commercialisation, providing technical support from orchard establishment to full production, including post-harvest assistance and bringing the final product to global markets.
The Kiwi Connection is also the master licensee for KiwiKo’s varieties, from the Yanoon BioTech programme in the Southern African territory.
KiwiKo is a global kiwifruit variety management company, specialising in variety protection and development, managing protected kiwifruit varieties from evaluation through to commercialisation.
Its story began when TopFruit and Miko Asia recognised the significant potential for new kiwifruit genetics and the need for innovation in the global kiwifruit industry.
Motivated by the possibilities of developing new kiwifruit varieties, they partnered and created KiwiKo.
Founded in 2020, the company was established to identify new kiwifruit varieties with high potential and introduce them to the kiwifruit industries of the world.
KiwiKo invested in one of the world’s leading kiwifruit breeding programmes, Yanoon BioTech based in Changsha, China. KiwiKo exclusively manages the Yanoon varieties worldwide, excluding China.
It recently hosted its first Kiwifruit Field Day in South Africa, marking the start of what will become an annual event showcasing varieties and their performance under diverse and challenging climatic conditions.
As the Southern African territory master licensee for KiwiKo, the field day was held in The Kiwi Connection’s test blocks across the three distinct climatic regions of Worcester, George and Grabouw.
With 30 international guests from France, Portugal, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, India, and China, along with 20 local attendees, the event brought together key players from across the kiwifruit world, among them professor Zhongyan Wang, the breeder from Yanoon BioTech.
“The event was an overwhelming success, with engaging discussions and positive feedback from attendees. Guests found the field visits very insightful and the experience reinforced the importance of continued collaboration in advancing kiwifruit production,” said Nick Steyn, business manager for KiwiKo. “We look forward to building on this momentum in the years to come.”
According to de Jongh, global consumption is switching to the sweeter yellow and red flesh varieties, and therefore the marketing strategy from South Africa is to export at least 95 per cent to international markets.
“The South African consumer still prefers a green kiwi, but the popularity of yellow kiwis are growing, therefore majority of the green kiwis are sold on the domestic market,” he explained.
One can understand the excitement in South Africa for yellow and red fleshed kiwifruit. The season stretches from middle February to end of April for yellow kiwifruit.
“This is quite a unique production window as it allows us to sell our yellow kiwis in the window that currently exists between the two hemisphere’s main producing countries,” de Jongh outlined.
Some of the more established international brands are expanding production in the Northern Hemisphere, in an attempt to bridge the current supply gap.
“It is therefore important that we maintain our high standard when it comes to quality and service to ensure we can compete in what can become a more competitive market,” he added.
