The 2008-09 southern hemisphere stonefruit campaign has been a successful one, despite weather issues in key producing countries such as South Africa and Australia. Demand has stayed relatively strong and fruit quality has been largely good. But will there be the usual tricky handover to northern hemisphere arrivals in the coming few weeks?
By all accounts it has been a solid campaign for the South African stonefruit industry, despite a delayed start due to tricky weather conditions. High pack-outs of mid-season South African plums mean growers in the country have increased their forecasts for the current season, Stefan Conradie, product manager for pome and stonefruit at the Deciduous Fruit Producers’ Trust, tells FPJ.
“The forecast for volumes of South African plums is 8.76 million 5.25kg carton equivalents,” he says. “This is one per cent down compared with last year’s record crop, compared with the four per cent decrease we predicted at the beginning of the year.
“We started the South African plum season approximately two weeks later than usual, so we have had some catching up to do. However, considering this and also the poor weather conditions at the end of January and beginning of February, we are now seeing an encouraging retail performance overall,” Conradie adds.
For the four weeks ending January 25, total sales of South African plums were more than 60 per cent up in value and almost 80 per cent in volume on the previous four weeks. “In this period, we also saw volumes increase by 34 per cent compared with the same time last year,” says Conradie. “Value was approximately the same as the previous year, indicating that there has been price deflation on the product. We are looking forward to reviewing upbeat results after our season closes in April.”
The following early varieties of South African plums have finished: Pioneer, 27 per cent up on the previous season; Sapphire, 10 per cent up on the previous season; Fortune, six per cent up on the previous season; African Pride, 18 per cent up on the previous season; and Souvenir, five per cent down on the previous season.
The Flavour King variety is selling well, reports one leading retailer, also unveiling an increase in market share on plums, despite the overall market declining at a rate of around nine per cent.
“The South African stonefruit industry launched its first promotional push for plums in the UK market since deregulation this year, so we are watching the performance of this product particularly closely,” says Conradie.
“The campaign is reaching a peak - in-store advertising, information and recipe booklets in packs, tasting events in Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, consumer radio, and both advertorial and editorial articles have all been taking place during the past few weeks.”
As for the rest of the South African season, apricots have finished and increased volumes to just over 1m 4.75kg carton equivalents - an increase of 23 per cent on the previous season, thanks to very good pack-outs. Nectarines rose one per cent from last year to 1.98m 2.5kg carton equivalents, while peaches reached 938,992 2.5kg carton equivalents, down by five per cent on last year.
Peaches and nectarines are moving into the end of the South African season, with Chile and Argentina stepping in to fill the gap. South Africa had short availability on peaches and nectarines at the start of the season, also due to the weather, say insiders, but also partly because of the usual battle among the retailers to get earlier and earlier fruit into stores. In mid-January the country saw some cold weather, but overall the season on those two lines from South Africa has been good, say insiders.
At the moment there are no major issues to report on the peaches and nectarines coming in from South American sources.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand apricot season is in good shape, having kicked off four weeks ago and with two weeks of the campaign left to go. While the overall market is declining at a rate of around six per cent year on year, one retailer reports incremental sales on the fruit.
A heatwave in Australia shut stonefruit trees down for a while - a natural shock reaction, says one insider - but they are now back in production.
But the traditionally sticky period for stonefruit beckons, when product shortages loom owing to the handover between southern and northern hemisphere supplies.
With Chile ending a bit early, there might be a gap between southern and northern hemisphere supplies, say importers. “Hopefully, Australian plums will help to bridge the gap until Israel is ready. There seems to be acceptance of a gap in apricot, peach and nectarine, but hopefully with North African and US fruit we can keep this to a minimum,” says one insider.
Early indications for northern hemisphere crops are good, with Egypt and Morocco “promising marvels”, says one expert. However, there is still everything to play for with three and half to four weeks to go before those countries’ seasons really kick off in earnest.
Meanwhile, the first arrivals of apricots and plums from Israel are scheduled to come into the UK at the end of May. “We anticipate seeing a further continuation of the increasing tendency and demand for healthier and sweeter varieties of stonefruit,” says Davidi Hayman, Agrexco stonefruit product manager.
“The season will be opening with new and exciting aromatic apricots, commercially ripe for the first time. These ‘Aroma’ varieties, with their distinct aromatic perfume, have a higher sugar level and therefore an improved taste than other common apricot varieties.
“With the plum lines, our aim is to develop healthier varieties with better flavour. Research has shown that the unique red colour and texture of the red flesh varieties gives them a higher antioxidant level than any other fruit and four times more than a pomegranate,” adds Hayman.
But it is still too early to tell how the European crop may be shaping up. “The flowers are not yet on the trees and until they have fallen and the fruit has started to set, they can’t really give any useful predictions,” says one insider.
NON-RETAIL FOCUS FOR CAPESPAN
capespan Limited markets more than 300,000 cartons of South African stonefruit a year, between November and April, of which around 70 per cent is in the plum category, writes John Hopkins, procurement manager.
With Capespan Exports, our parent company, focused on UK retail contracts with category managers, Capespan Limited has looked to grow volumes and stabilise values in the non-retail side of the business. Specialising in the UK wholesale and foodservice sectors and the Irish market, the key to success has been to deliver a consistent and reliable portfolio of products. The Cape brand still has an important presence, with a focus on varieties, sizes and packaging demanded by the customer base, consistent volume and full or multi-pallet deliveries to reduce costs.
After an excellent 2008, demand for South African stonefruit this season increased by 15 per cent, indicating better demand for the product with the wholesale customer base in particular. With a poorer than expected set and later cropping due to weather conditions, it is expected that volumes will ultimately be in line with 2008 exports. So far, results have been very promising. At a time when customers are reducing risk in line with credit availability, plums in particular have represented good value for money against more expensive commodities, and have experienced very stable demand.
The southern hemisphere season started approximately two weeks late, leaving a gap between northern and southern hemisphere arrivals. The result was an excellent market for early fruit, until available volumes met demand.
Peaches certainly sold at exceptional values, with payments to growers above the norm. Apricots, being two weeks late, were squeezed into a very small window in 2008-09, with little fruit available prior to Christmas. Early fruit made healthy returns, with values in the region of £8-9 for 5kg; post-Christmas returns were lower than expected. Nectarines have followed a similar pattern to previous years. Pre-Christmas fruit is expensive and the UK competes against strong returns that can be made in continental Europe and the Middle East.
Supply is well below demand until Chilean volumes become available in January and prices start to fall. Values were between £5-8 pre-Christmas for 2.5kg, falling to £3-4 after the new year. The South African portfolio is improving every year, with old varieties being replaced by more desirable ones such as Alpine, Crimson Blaze, Starborne and Summer Bright.
For Capespan, the majority of the season is based on plums. We are blessed with an extensive portfolio of varieties that suit all tastes globally. Compared to the variety portfolio on offer from Chile, which focuses predominantly on California-type plums that are less in demand in the UK, we are able to select the specific varieties and sizes that we know will perform in the market with our target audiences. Red varieties are the staple, providing 80 per cent of sales. Newer varieties such as Ruby Red and Lady Red and the late black variety Southern Belle complement established varieties such as Pioneer, Sapphire, Souvenir, Laetitia and Larry Anne. With the opportunity to supply specialists with pluots (Flavour King), yellow varieties (African Pride and Songold) and a myriad of new varieties that have come from the breeding programme, there is a perfect balance.
Smaller fruit is packed into punnets or 500g bags for pre-seasonally determined programmes with schools and specific smaller retail clients. With good returns from wholesale, loose fruit (As and AAs) is received in exactly the proportions and volumes demanded. Values in December and January were very strong, despite the current economic climate.
Values are reducing now that peak volumes from both South Africa and Chile are available, but are still in line with 2008. Of course, it has helped that, in these times when exchange rates are significantly affecting importers, the rand has remained relatively weak and competitive against South American imports.
However, the major reasons for success remain the greatest challenges going forward. First, identify the customer base and deliver consistently; loyalty breeds loyalty. Second, adapt to change. The South African industry has proactively bred an extraordinary range of plum and nectarine varieties, with the nectarine portfolio likely to continue to improve over the next few seasons. The peach and apricot portfolios remain the challenge, with new varieties slower to meet European requirements. We are confident that the breeding programme is addressing this challenge.
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