In the table grape vineyards of Saron in the Western Cape, there is a new breeze of inspiration.
Warren Bam, who was born in the local community and first worked in the vineyards, now has his own table grape business, and crucially, he has shown that you do not necessarily have to be a land owner to be a successful table grape farmer.
Apart from success in the vineyards, he is also achieving things in the boardroom, where he serves as a director of the table grape organisation SATI.
Bam has been named as South Africa’s top emerging farmer by the country’s agricultural writers for the second time. He entered the industry as a grower by renting land from other table grape growers and within a few years he has achieved major success.
Obtaining land if you are a new entrant into table grape production, or for that matter any part of the fruit sector, is not an easy task. Despite this there is however a number of very successful initiatives where previously excluded people are benefitting from participation in the industry.
Bam’s entrepreneurial skills and finding a way to enter the industry is one of those, although there is a great difference.
“I worked for one of the major table grape and blueberry farms in the area and finally convinced the owner to rent 12ha of table grapes on my own,” he says.
More hectares followed and today it is a successful organic table grape business. He now rents the farm Gunsteling, while he also has a part ownership in the farm Wesland, which produces table grapes and olives in Saron.
Bam delivers his organic grapes to Capespan and says 80 per cent are sold in the UK and the rest in Europe.
He attributes much of his success to the farmers who believed in him, as well as to legendary table grape expert, Piet Geldenhuys, who passed away last year. “Piet Geldenhuys was a straight guy and would tell you exactly when you were making a mess,' he explains.
Bam says he somehow always knew that he would do his own farming. “In church one day a stranger came up to me and told me – ‘you will be a grape farmer.’ It was strange and now it is coming true.”
He outlines that taking risks, working hard and being patient has paid off for him. “When people talk about empowering people, the expectations are that it will be a ‘rags to riches’ story. It is not and dedication and taking risks are required.”
Bam is also actively involved with SATI’s empowerment policy and says he wants to contribute to opening up new opportunities for growers to enter the industry. “Working in agriculture,” he says, “is rewarding. People tell each other exactly what they think and they are honest with each other. That is why I like what I am doing.”
