Blushed apricots that will dramatically change South Africa’s offering and new grower alliances feature strongly as the South African stonefruit trade prepares for the new season.
Hortgro, the industry co-ordination body, says that while its first crop estimate is not available yet, it is quietly confident for a good season when it gets underway in early October.
“We are a bit worried by the water situation after a dry winter, but with investment in new plantings during the past few years we are confident that we will see further growth,” says a Hortgro spokesperson. The total stonefruit export crop last season was significantly higher than the average for the last three years and if this season is a repeat of last year the total crop will be between 17 and 18 million cartons.
The bulk of the crop will again be plums, with 11.5m cartons exported last year, followed by nectarines and peaches, with apricots being under one million cartons.
Yet it is the apricot category that is now yielding some of the most exciting news in the South African stonefruit category for some time. South African apricots could in future be available to international customers from November till March following the introduction of the well-known Carmingo range of blushed varieties, which is being fast-tracked into the industry through an agreement between two leading stonefruit exporters.
Fruits Unlimited, from Paarl, and the Stellenbosch-based Stargrow Marketing are leading a commercialisation programme that includes investment in plantings. These varieties all ripen from January to March in South Africa and fall well outside the present South African apricot marketing window.
“At present the country has a four-week packing window with the last shipments before Christmas,” says Hennie Prins of Stargrow Marketing. “We will only start harvesting the Carmingo range in January and by utilising the most appropriate climatic regions will ship the last fruit during the second half of March.”
According to Hans Muylaert–Gelein from Fruits Unlimited, apricots in supermarkets have always been seen as a niche product, and the new Carmingo range, besides offering a season extension, also has the eating qualities that make it a Ripe ’n’ Ready top-tier product.
“Good size, high in natural sweetness, and good shelf life make them winners for consumers, and the ability to bear fruit from early in its production cycle, as well as good tonnage on the tree, make them winners for growers as well,” he says.
Meanwhile, re:inc innovation has announced a new export-grower alliance called ‘start’. This involves six prominent stonefruit growers located across the Cape fruit regions. The company will export the whole range of South African stonefruit, with growers also having exclusive access to new re:inc innovation varieties.
