Max MacGillivray Great Fruit Adventure

MacGillivray outside the PPECB offices in Cape Town, South Africa

Travelling over 18,000km and passing through 18 countries between London and Cape Town, fresh produce veteran Max MacGillivray has completed his Great Fruit Adventure.

Over the course of the trip – designed to raise awareness of the provenance of fruit and veg and boost its consumption among young people – the MD of recruitment agency Redfox visited producers across Spain and Africa and chronicled their journey on social media.

The awareness campaign reached 5,000 school children in Africa and 500 schools in the UK and Europe, receiving 250,000 hits on the event’s main website and 105,000 likes on Facebook.

MacGillivary’s journey, which he completed with experienced motorcyclist Gareth Jones, came to an end on 1 February, three months after it began, at the South African offices of the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) in Cape Town. Fortunately, the duo suffered no breakdowns or punctures.

The entire South African leg of the trip was arranged by Fruit South Africa, which addresses issues affecting various growing associations in theSouth African fruit industry.

Both MacGillivray and Jones were thanked by Fruit South Africa’s CEO Konanani Liphadzi in a presentation that followed the pair’s arrival at PPECB. He praised both men for raising awareness of the South African produce industry.

Over 4.7 million tonnes of fresh produce is grown in South Africa, with 60 per cent exported to over 93 countries worldwide. The bulk of this goes to the UK and Europe.

Following Liphadzi’s speech, MacGillivray took to the stage to reiterate the aims of the trip and what comes next from himself and the UK team behind The Great Fruit Adventure.

The campaign plans to distribute child-friendly educational books and videos on where fresh produce comes from, as well as an online educational tool under the theme of The Great Fruit Adventure.

MacGillivray also discussed the importance of getting more Africans interested in farming and growing at a time of increasing urbanisation, before doing a tour of Cape Town Port and being interviewed by South African TV channel news24.

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