The South African fruit export season is gaining momentum, with stonefruit and table grape growers beginning their seasons earlier than last year.
The first pears of the season have also been harvested and are expected to be shipped from Cape Town this weekend.
Villiersdorp packer Betko says it will ship its first pears to Europe this weekend, with the group's suppliers in the Vyeboom/Villiersdorp region started their 2015 harvests.
Early Bon Chretien pears will be arriving at the state-of-the-art Betko Packhouse just outside Villiersdorp, and will be packed from Thursday onwards.
Marketing executive Roux Groenewald has confirmed that the first fruit will be shipped from Cape Town to Europe on Saturday.
“The Bon Chretien harvest always starts the beginning of our new season, although we have not quite finished the marketing of the previous crop,' he said. 'We will be packing some Golden Delicious during January to finish our previous season’s packing programme.”
Groenewald described the previous season as good but challenging, and said Betko was looking forward to a strong season.
Betko’s own farms, belonging to the Japie Groenewald Trust, will provide around 70 per cent of the company’s volume. The farms are located along the Sonderend River, which provide the ideal climate for red apples in particular. Boosted by new plantings, Betko’s volumes are expected to show further growth in 2015.
The company will also be able to use its new modern precooling and loading facilities from the start of the season, which will increase capacity for CA storage.
Meanwhile, some unseasonal rain disrupted not only the international cricket match between South Africa and the West Indies at Newlands in Cape Town – where most Capetonians are still in holiday mood as they watch the traditional New Year’s weekend fixture – but also the table grape season in Paarl, where growers had to slow down their harvesting and packing following the overnight rain.
The Paarl growers started their season before Christmas, because the harvest is up to ten days earlier than last year. Exporters say table grapes have never been harvested and packed in the Hex River Valley as early as this year, and some growers are believed to have packed their first grapes before Christmas.
In the Orange River the harvest will now enter its final stage, with peak packing expected to continue for another two weeks. Despite earlier predictions of possible record volumes, growers say they expect the total crop in the Orange River to be short of 2014. However, the weather has been good and growers believe that it is an excellent quality year.
Shipping statistics indicate that Europe and the UK received almost 90 per cent of the South African grape crop up to week 50. At the same time industry sources say the market is fairly depressed, and they expect the season to be a tough one.
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