Through its associate company Rapiprop, the Capespan Group has purchased the Queen Anne farm in the Vygeboom district of the Western Cape, South Africa.

Capespan managing director Neil Oosthuizen said: “To stabilise and ensure our South African volumes, Capespan’s initiatives to step up production involvement are developing well with this latest purchase. Considering that retailers are engaging with producers to a greater extent, it simply makes sense that we should remain relevant in this instance.”

Last year, Capespan purchased Applethwaite in the Western Cape’s Grabouw district. Brian Mackinnon, managing director of Rapiprop, said the Queen Anne management would essentially stay as it is, but would fall under Applethwaite supervision. The 35 permanent employees and 100 seasonal workers will be retained.

Some 100 hectares are planted with apples and pears in a 65:35 split partnership respectively. In addition to supplying the local market, the farm annually exports between 250,000 and 280,000 cartons to the European and UK markets.

“It’s a first-class farm with a good cultivar mix. What’s more, all the orchards are quite young. So, we hope it will make a positive contribution to Rapiprop’s performance," said Mackinnon.

Harvesting on Queen Anne is now in full swing, with Royal Gala starting this week. The apple cultivars on the farm are Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Fuji, Braeburn, Royal Gala, while pears include Packham and Forelle.

Owning and operating farms in South Africa, Rapiprop is a joint venture between Capespan, Total Produce and the Cape Empowerment Trust. The organisation buys farms with good investment potential and secures a strategic fruit supply.

Topics