A key rule for anyone looking for success in the fresh produce game is the simple - know your market.
Keeping up-to-date with demands, consumer trends, needs and wants, is vital. There is no point blindly pumping out ever-increasing volumes of peaches if the consumers have shown an increasing preference for nectarines. Teaching granny to suck eggs, you might be thinking, but not everyone keeps their finger on the pulse.
South Africa is one country where the fruit industry has a growing grasp on market dynamics, particularly when it comes to stone-fruit, says Martin Dunnett, commercial director with Capespan.
“We know what the demand is, and the growers are producing to meet that demand. They’re not attempting to overstretch the market - we know what the retailers want and we’re meeting their requirements.”
He says the growers are not looking to force the market to grow: “We know what our programmes are and produce in line with that.
“We’re still a serious player on stone-fruit and believe South African fruit has consistently delivered over the last few years against our competitors in the southern hemisphere.”
Dunnett says this skill to produce to requirements, coupled with high standards has paid off for the South Africans: “Last year was a prime example, when we had a major over-supply of South American fruit, which was difficult to sell, South African produce maintained a reasonable demand because of its quality.”
The marketing skills of the growers is something Stoney Steenkamp, stone-fruit manager with Fruits Unlimited, says is improving. “The growers are much more market orientated now - it’s impressive, they’re learning a lot and they’re taking responsibility for production all the way up to the market. That’s good,” he says.
So far, with the stone-fruit season underway, reports are indicating conditions are looking good for what is shaping up to be an excellent year, particularly when it comes to quality.
Mark Guscott, buyer for Mack Multiples, says: “It’s a really good season for eating quality this year, one of the best we’ve had in recent years.”
He adds the situation is down to the dry spring, which has sent sugar levels in the fruit, particularly on plums, soaring.
“We’re just moving into a variety called Flavour King, which is a dark red plum, and we’re getting sugar levels of around 14 to 20 brix, so it’s looking very promising.”
Dunnett agrees: “It has been a good quality year. The weather has been very dry in the Western Cape and we’ve got a very reliable product with good eating quality.”
The condition of the fruit is also looking promising with producers expecting little problems with shelf life. Guscott says: “So far internal condition has been very good. Unfortunately, last year there were some problems with internal breakdowns, but this year it’s looking fine.”
When it comes to volume and size, however, mixed messages appear to be filtering through to the market.
Guscott says the South Africans, when it comes to plums, have had a good fruit set with plenty of fruit on the trees. “Only two varieties have not had such a big crop,” he says, “but that won’t affect the volumes that we’re bringing into the UK.”
However, Steenkamp says Fruits Unlimited is experiencing lower volumes as well as issues with sizing: “We had a very hot winter last year and the size of the fruit is not what we were expecting to have. It’s a smaller size and the crop is lighter too. It’s going to be down about 20 per cent on our estimates.”
He says the size issue is going to be the main problem: “The smaller size means it restricts our ability to market the fruit easily. We can only sell it to certain markets and that puts pressure on those areas.”
Dunnett disagrees on the size front, saying most of Capespan’s offerings are of good size, but agrees volumes will be down this season: “We’re expecting slightly reduced volumes on what was forecast, but not dramatically, we’ll perhaps be down overall on all fruit by 10 per cent.
“Our target is one million cartons of stone-fruit, which we might be slightly short on - last year was the same target, which we met.”
One thing the industry seems to agree on, however, is that apricots certainly seem to be the most heavily effected.
Guscott says: “The apricot season was over very quickly, it was finished before Christmas. We’re not quite sure why, but think it might have been due to the dry weather. The fruit finished about a week or two short.”
Steenkamp says the fruit was down considerably on expectations: “Its down by 30 per cent on our estimates, but that’s due to the weather conditions. We’re expecting next season to be a more normal crop.”
However Dunnett says there should be no problems with apricot supplies to the UK. “The volumes have been very much in line with demand and the uptake has been reasonably healthy,” he says.
Peaches have dropped away this season as well. “Peaches were quite significantly down,” Dunnett says, adding this is down to the introduction of newer, lower yielding varieties. “They’re not as prolific as the older varieties, but they deliver a much better shelf life.”
Steenkamp says they were also down on peaches, although nectarines were looking good, following excellent growing conditions.
Dunnett says plum availability was tight in the run-up to Christmas, which helped to strengthen prices. “We’re now working on Sapphire, which is a new variety and looking good. We’re also seeing the first arrivals of yellow-fleshed plums, and they should be in line with demand.
“It’s a good quality year, and we’re seeing larger fruit, which has been a changing requirement over the last few years in the UK market.”
Steenkamp says producers are using their heads when it comes to plum production: “We’re starting to see a decrease in mid-season volumes as growers are beginning to realise they have to limit production.”
He says the danger in the mid season was volumes were beginning to get out of balance with supply. “The economic conditions are filtering through to growers and we’re seeing them plant new varieties which produce later to spread the growth out.”
When it comes to varietal development, the South Africans are working hard, says Dunnett: “We have a pretty advanced new development programme and nearly all the fruit marketed seven to eight years ago, particularly when it comes to apricots, have all been upgraded with new varieties.”
One company at the forefront of this is Sunworld. Johan Jooste, vice-president and general manager of the Californian based company’s South African operations, says the organisation is working on a wide range of new varieties.
“On apricots we’ve got four new varieties that will be marketed under the brand name Honeycot and we’re seeing the first test volumes in South Africa this year and its looking really special.”
He said the range, called Suapriseven, Suaprieight, Suaprinine and Suapriten, have high sugar levels, of around 16 to 17 brix and a good acid balance. “We’ve sent some samples to Europe and they have landed excellently. We’re very excited.
“In South Africa, apricots have always been something of a Cinderella fruit, it’s been growing over the past number of years, but the industry is still looking to get a good-keeping, big sized fruit. Don’t say we’ve necessarily got it, but we’re near to that.”
When it comes to peaches and nectarines, Sunworld is working on low chilling varieties, he says. The kind of fruit which is more suited to warmer climate countries which will enable growers to extend the season.
“On plums we’re working on Suplumeleven, promoted under the Black Diamond brand. We sent some small volumes across to Europe this year but haven’t seen the results yet.
“It’s a dark almost black plum variety and when it turns ripe has a red flesh. The plum is an early to mid season variety and will hopefully compliment the current SA portfolio.”
When it comes to shipping, there has also been developments, according to leading logistics providers Safmarine. A spokesman for the company says: “We’ve seen a swing [in the number] of plums moving under controlled atmosphere.”
The company says in the past, the majority of that fruit would have been shipped under normal conditions, but the change is paying dividends on the quality front. “Plums are a very sensitive commodity to ship, with CA we can extend the shelf life, but the main advantage is better quality with good firmness.”
The company has also recently put into service two new Big White container vessels, Safmarine Nokwanda and Safmarine Nomazwe. The two ships, which have been purpose-built for the Europe-South Africa trade, are 266 metres in length and have a capacity of 3,700 twenty foot containers.
The spokesman said: “The vessels are both built applying the latest available technology, making them the most modern container vessels in the world. They have increased reefer capacity and offer South African fruit shippers faster speed to market.”
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