“It looks as if peaches, particularly from the early areas such as the Transvaal, will be shorter than in the past,” said Mark Kidd of importer Richard Hochfeld. “Availability from later crops in the Western Cape should be improved, but up to mid-to-late November we are expecting the situation to be quite tight.”
The picture is slightly different on nectarines, says Kidd, pictured. “They are starting to arrive, but we could have had fruit even earlier if our customers had wanted it,” he said. “It is probably more to do with background weather conditions, but I would say the situation is not as tight as it is on peaches.”
At Capespan, Martin Dunnett said the company brought its first nectarines from South Africa into the UK this week. “There has been a bit of a gap on the market with Italy finishing a month ago,” he said. “Weather conditions for the fruit have been good and they have had the necessary rains in our early area - Northern Province. Water was a real issue two years ago, but supply looks OK this time. However, there is a bit of a question mark over availability from the Northern Cape later on.”
The apricot season, which is scheduled to start in December, could face some difficulties though, warned Dunnett. “They have faced hail and frost in Valhaarts in the Northern Cape near Bloemfontein so there could be a loss of a volume,” he said.
Meanwhile, plum growers in South Africa are hoping for something of a recovery in their fortunes on the UK market this season. Exports will not begin in earnest until next month, but Dunnett reports that growers were encouraged by slightly better returns last season.
Following a “disastrous” experience on the market in 2004-05, when even in a short supply situation, growers failed to earn the required returns due to deep-cut promotional pricing on the market. “Producers were a bit frightened of the UK market, but better values last season have helped confidence return for this year,” said Dunnett.
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