South Africa is gearing up for another excellent table grape crop, but the next few weeks will confirm whether labour problems will spoil the party. A crop of close to 54 million cartons has been forecasted, weather permitting, with all regions from the Orange River to the Hex River Valley expecting good crops.

The area of concern for most grape growers in the Western Cape region is the recent worker strikes, which were fuelled by political agendas. The government, labour leaders and grower bodies are presently trying to find solutions to what has become a very complex situation.

Despite this, the show must go on and there is plenty of good news to be looking forward to. There are also plenty of issues to be sorted out as growers are looking to position themselves to take advantage of more marketing opportunities across the world. Cold weather during September originally dampened spirits in the Orange River, but local growers’ association chairman Piet du Plessis said apart from a week’s delay in harvesting, everything is on track. “We have a heavy crop in the Orange River region and we could match last year’s 16 million cartons again.”

Santa Spangenberg of Orex Exports told FPJ that the 2012 season brought much confidence back to the Orange River region after some difficult years. “Provided growers and exporters deal with what is expected to be another high crop in a disciplined way, it could be another great season.”

Du Plessis says that while the export crop of 16.1m cartons in 2012 was a new record for the region, it is expected that volumes will be more or less the same as last year. “Prime, Sugraone and Thompson Seedless remain popular varieties, but there is great interest in growing the percentage of red and black seedless we are packing. Flame Seedless, Crimson Seedless and Cochella Seedless, a Sun World variety, are still popular.”

Pitto’s Bernedette van Tiddens says her company is looking for a good balance between supplying traditional markets and the new markets in the east. Van Tiddens believes Pitto suppliers and growers in the region are increasingly looking for new varieties that do not carry any marketing restrictions.

“The new Arra varieties, which include a full range of exciting new white, red and black seeded varieties, are receiving a lot of attention and will be planted experimentally in the Orange River this season.

“The problem with the club or market control varieties is that 10 per cent of the earnings go to the licensees and plant right owners without them contributing anything to the marketing programme.”

In the northern regions of the country bigger volumes of Starlight, a red seedless ripening at the same time as Prime, have been emerging into the market. Petra Pieterse of HN Pieterse Farms says Starlight has been performing extremely well and will make a great impact in future.

That is echoed by Hex River Valley growers AS Viljoen, who says Starlight is helping them to start harvesting between Christmas and New Year. “Starlight is a beautiful grape and I am sure it will go places in future, not least because it is also a good bearer and very production friendly,” says Anton Viljoen Sr. It is also a so-called free variety and if history is repeated it will be planted extensively.

The smaller Olifants River region promises a good crop of Prime, Flame Seedless and Starlight, but the later-ripening trend experienced in the Orange River is expected to continue here. In the northern (early) part of the Berg River Region, the season will also be a week later, with the crop estimated at between 12.5m and 12.8m cartons. This is very much on par with last year’s crop. South Africa’s late region, the Hex River Valley, last year produced 18.4m cartons and growers are confident that they will at least match that figure in 2013.

Meanwhile leading South African table grape growers have expanded their influence in the early and late production regions of Southern Africa. While the Karsten Group has extended its South African production by acquiring farms in the Hex River region, a leading Hex River-based producer-exporter, Grape Alliance, has increased its share of the Namibian business.

The Karsten Group has acquired the farms Naudeshof and De Hoop from the Graaff family, which has been farming in the Valley since 1966. The Karsten Group will also manage a fourth farm in the Hex River Valley, which is expected to see its grape volumes grow by at least a further one million cartons.

The leading three grape grower groupings, Grape Alliance, the well-known Anton Viljoen family and the Karsten Group, now dominate production in the centre of the Hex River Valley.

At the same time the total number of table grape growers in the Valley has dropped from in excess of 600 in the pre-deregulation period to hardly reaching 150 today, which is evidence of how tough the business has become.

The South African industry will enter the new season in late October on the back of what was a record crop in 2012, despite adverse weather conditions. Export volumes reached 54m cartons after being stuck around the 50m carton level for some time. This is generally seen as the start of a new era of growth in exports of South African table grapes.

During the past 10 years most growers, even in the late Hex River Region, put emphasis on moving their harvesting earlier. This has had the effect of squeezing production in the traditional mid-season Berg River Valley around Paarl, Wellington and Sharon. In terms of returns back to the farm, growers in these areas are finding themselves increasingly competing in the mid-season, somewhat oversupplied marketing period. Their focus has very much been on new and exclusive varieties which are destined to carve a new niche for them in the market, while the traditional varieties are increasingly suffering.

The new Sun World International white seedless released this week, Autumn Crisp, may well draw interest from growers who are looking for something in the time slot after Thompson Seedless. Sun World International spokesman Johan Jooste confirmed that the new variety has already been planted in test blocks in various production regions and the first grapes will be evaluated this season.—

MARGINAL GROWTH FOR SA EXPORTS

The South African grape industry has issued what can be called a typical early season forecast, indicating that there will only be marginal growth in the season, which ends in April next year.

On the other hand the Namibian grape industry anticipates exports of around 4.2m cartons, which will also be very much on par with the past season.

Both forecasts are of academic nature because it is so early in the season that it is almost impossible to give an accurate forecast. Last year South Africa exported some 54.6m cartons and the industry body, SATI, predicts that in 2013 exports will end up between 53.8 and 55.1m.

With the season about to start in all earnest, there is much concern about the effect that steeply increasing container freight rates will have on the grape industry. One exporter says the $1,500 per container increase which is planned by Maersk could wipe out the net farm income of around 35 per cent of the grape sector.

GRAPE HARVESTING ON TRACK

Harvesting of Early Sweet was expected to start around week 44 in the Northern Province, where the total crop is expected to be between 4.2m and 4.5m cartons. Prime followed in weeks 45 and 46, which is more or less the normal harvesting period. Red Globe in the region also started earlier than usual.

In the Orange River the initial estimate shows a good to heavy crop volume for most varieties. However, the region’s crop was said to be between five and seven days later than the previous season. Orange River growers predict a crop of between 16.6m and 16.9m cartons, compared to last year’s 16.8m cartons.

The smaller Olifants River region promises a good crop of Prime, Flame Seedless and Starlight, but the later ripening trend experienced in the Orange River is expected to continue here.

Namibia, which starts harvesting about a week earlier than the Orange River, is expected to be a major force in the early season. Apart from the growth in red and black seedless, growers here will also see more of the new cultivar range to be sold under the ARRA banner.

These varieties were evaluated for the first time last season and drew interest from across South Africa, mainly because they do not carry any marketing restrictions and are popular with growers who would like to export their own fruit.