Cool evenings and severe rainfall in major South African table grape-producing areas, the Northern Province and Orange River, has meant that production has been slow, and it looks like the trend is set to continue through to the New Year.
South Africa’s hot, dry climate normally provides perfect weather conditions for growing grapes, but this year the grape crop is taking its time to mature because of the unusual weather.
“I have never known production areas like the lower Orange River to have temperatures this low at this time of the year,” says Martin Dunnett, trading director of Capespan, one of the main South African grape suppliers to the UK. “Early summer in South Africa can reach temperatures of 48°C, but this year it has been as low as 17°C. The grapes are just not maturing as quickly as they usually do.”
Many suppliers are nervously waiting to see whether the industry will fulfil the UK’s retail demands in time for the Christmas rush, whilst others are resigned to the fact that there will be a shortage. Nevertheless, suppliers and growers alike are doing their utmost to get as many grapes into the supply chain before it is too late.
“The season is 14 to 15 days later than it was last year, and it takes 14 days to ship the grapes over to the UK,” explains Leon Van Biljon, business manager at Dole South Africa (SA), another major supplier of the fruit. “It is making it really difficult to get Christmas sales in place. We are going to see a very limited amount of grapes in the UK at Christmas time, as this is the last packing week [week 48] to make pre-Christmas sales.”
Pressure from the UK market to get South African grapes into shops before the Christmas period has driven some suppliers to desperate measures. To avoid missing out on the lucrative season, some South African exporters have been airfreighting produce to the UK, despite the costs involved.
Unfortunately for the industry, that is not where the problems end. According to Van Biljon, the cold and wet weather has affected the crop’s quality in some areas, and some varieties have been rejected by UK multiples. “The Northern Province has received a lot of rainfall and, although a lot of crops have been covered, the Sugraone variety especially has been rejected,” he says. “There is a critical shortage of red seedless grapes, especially with the US crop coming out of the market earlier. The Prime and Thompson crops are looking very good, but we expect the shortage of red seedless to go on right into mid-January, and there will be a shortage of Sugraone until the New Year.”
But there is some good news on the horizon, according to Dunnett. “The positive thing about a late season is that it almost always means the grapes will be good quality,” he explains. “Although the grapes are taking longer to mature, it means that further down the line, the fruit will be more stable.”
Van Biljon agrees that it looks like the season will redeem itself, and says production should increase this year. “The important thing is that production is not down,” he says. “In our biggest growing region, Orange River, it looks like 70 per cent of the crop will be seven to 10 days late throughout the season, but this will bring peak weeks of production. Volume will be late, but it will be made up by the fact that the peaks of production will be larger than last year.”
However, the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI), an organisation set up to increase and diversify the country’s table grape industry globally, is more concerned with maintaining the quality of the South African crop rather than increasing production. The organisation is focused on creating a more efficient supply chain, in order to increase quality standards.
South Africa produces approximately 227,000 tonnes of table grapes a year, and Elaine Alexander, executive director of SATI, believes that this season’s production will not be any different. “We have seen similar volumes to last season, which was very good,” she says. “This season will have a similar crop size to the last, but more importantly we have seen prices stabilise and producers have seen better returns.”
There has been a steady rise in the export of South African table grapes to the UK over the last three seasons with the percentage of total production going to the UK increasing from 24 per cent in the 2004-2005 season, to 26 per cent last season.
Most South African table grape exporters and growers are eager to work with the UK market, as it offers high prices for high-quality produce. Over the last three years, Dole SA has more than doubled its table grape exports to the UK. “Traditionally, Dole SA is not a very strong UK player, but we have established a good reputation with the large multiples in the UK over the last couple of years,” says Van Biljon. “So we are pushing the market forward and concentrating on the UK.”
The South African industry’s biggest competitor for southern-hemisphere table grapes remains Chile, where production has been steady. But Dunnett believes South African grapes still have the upper hand when it comes to the UK’s Christmas and New Year market. “Capespan is still a very serious player in terms of South African fruit going to the UK,” he says. “We export more than 112 million kilos of seedless grapes all over the world, and 25 per cent of that goes into the UK. The key is that South Africa still produces the best quality grapes at any time of the year, and all the best of the crop goes to the UK. In Chile, this is not always the case.”
The South African government’s export regulations are a perfect match for the UK’s high standards, according to Dunnett. “The South African government is good at setting standards, and you can’t ship produce that does not meet precise regulations,” he says. “Working with both the government and UK supermarkets is a good place to be; standards are never compromised. In turn, we work very closely with our growers in South Africa to make sure quality is maintained.”
Dunnett believes a new trend is emerging in the UK for red seedless grapes, such as the Flame and Crimson varieties, and that the emphasis on white seedless is beginning to diminish. “Over the past couple of years, sales of red seedless have exploded, and over the last couple of months the line has seen a growth in demand of 20 per cent,” says Dunnett. “This may cause a problem in the future, as not many countries have planted red seedless and have opted for white seedless instead. Growers are starting to address the situation, but it won’t make any impact for a couple of years yet.”
Van Biljon says the UK market has always been the driving force for innovation in the grape industry, and that Dole SA works very closely with seed breeders to stay one step ahead of the game. “We are involved with many new varieties and have our own nurseries, which we find is very beneficial for our consortium of growers,” he says. “We are always looking for new varieties that can produce a better yield, stand up to adverse weather conditions and ultimately deliver what the consumer wants.”
