In the 2009 season, Capespan will be able to offer its global customers between 55 and 60 per cent of the early Namibian table grapes.
On making the announcement, exclusively to freshinfo, Capespan Group managing director Neil Oosthuizen said the Namibian Grape Company’s (NGC) management and marketing agreement had been extended in favour of Capespan following discussions with various Namibian government officials.
“Because of this and other initiatives we’re concluding in Aussenkehr, Namibia, the Group will be able to increase its early grape offering to global customers,” Oosthuizen said. “Capespan will be engaging regularly with the interim NGC board appointed by the Namibian government.”
With 360 hectares of table grape vineyards, NGC had an excellent last season in which 1.2 million cartons were harvested. The outstanding quality of Namibian grapes led to 99 per cent of the crop being exported, with Capespan exporting a record 2.4m cartons from Namibia.
“Apart from the enviable advantage of Namibian vineyards being pest- and disease-free, not a drop of rain fell during the harvest. This simply reinforces the fact that the region is absolutely ideal for grapes,” said Oosthiuzen.
“During the past season, word quickly spread about the excellent Namibian grapes in markets abroad and retailers all scrambled to obtain the fruit.”
