With the arrival of the fifth specialised reefer vessel into the Port of Philadelphia during the first week of August, South Africa’s summer citrus shipments officially reached the halfway stage of the 2010 season. So far, all is said to be proceeding well, with general fruit quality being rated very highly.
Close to 20,000 pallets of South African summer citrus fruit have arrived in the US to date this season (the end of the first week in August) – almost halfway towards the total forecast of around 40,000 pallets. Now the mid-season navels have all been packed and shipped, the focus is moving to the late navels (Robyn and the Late Australian), as well as late mandarins, which will replace clementines as they near the end of their season.
While marketing initiatives on the US East Coast are already in full swing, large-scale shipments to the West Coast are due to get underway as soon as the California season draws to a close. The end of the summer holidays in the US was also expected to boost sales during mid-August.
“We are pleased with the season so far,” says Gerrit van der Merwe, chairman of the Western Cape Citrus Producers’ Forum (WCCPF). “We successfully landed our first grapefruit in the US and we will also see the arrivals of our first Midknights during August, which will be much earlier than in the past.”
Gerhard Stone, second of the South African growers who are this season monitoring the season in Philadelphia, also made some interesting observations after visiting retailers in early August. “I am still amazed that despite the care we put into branding our fruit – right up to using PLU stickers – you can still find our navels, which looked very good, mixed together with California and Chilean navels,” claims Mr Stone.
“In another case we found South African clementines in 5lb cartons stacked in a mix with Chilean brands, all priced at the same level in the same retail store. Another aspect we noted were the advertisements from our competitors, who are also laying claim to the idea of a ‘summer citrus’ offer.”
US importers, meanwhile, are finalising plans with their preferred retailers for South Africa’s 2010 in-store promotions, which for the first time will be supported by the WCCPF, provided activities include tasting opportunities. This year, ‘The Pride of Our Land’ is the brand slogan for South African summer citrus.
Two promotions have already been finalised and will be organised by Fisher Capespan’s sales team. One promotion will occur at the up-market 16-store chain of Food Emporiums in New York City, feature only Fairtrade citrus. The other event will take place at 300 Winn Dixie supermarkets in the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana. Both initiatives are taking place in August.
As part of the promotions, demonstration tables will be fitted with a skirt featuring the South African Summer Citrus logo and leaflets featuring delicious recipes with South African navels and beautiful photography will be distributed to shoppers.
During August and September, navels and late mandarins will dominate South Africa’s citrus offer. Navel oranges are often described as the 'gifts of the Gods' and as such they are a favorite amongst consumers who enjoy the experience of eating a fresh, juicy oranges. It is with these varieties that the South Africans hope to dazzle US consumers.
The most prominent navel orange variety available during this period is Robyn, a late season variety which was developed in the Citrusdal Valley at the end of the 1950s. Historians say it was first found on the Laryn farm of PO Mouton and Sons in 1959 and later G Joubert and T Malherbe of the Robyn farm propagated 200 trees. It is now generally accepted that is from where this navel got its name.
Robyn is described as very similar to the Washington variety – a prominent South African mid-season navel. It is a large, round and slightly oval fruit; with segments which are easily parted; a firm, crisp and tender flesh; moderately juicy; and of a fine, rich flavor, with adequate acidity.
Another variety which US consumers can look forward to over the next few months is ClemenGold – a branded Nadorcott variety which offers special qualities in terms of taste and appearance. South African retailer Woolworths recently included ClemenGold in its Flavour Burst range (a brand reserved for fruit varieties of exceptional taste) in recognition of the time and efforts invested by South African growers to lift the variety out of its previous Nadorcott heritage.
The production of ClemenGold is expanding around the world, with released forecasts indicating that the Nadorcott crop is expected to grow significantly in the years ahead. Indeed, respected international citrus export, Professor Etienne Rabe (a South African by birth), who is ploughing his trade with Paramount Citrus and Biogold USA in California, claims the current volume of Nadorcott will double between 2014 and 2015 and even triple by 2019.
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