Block competition winner Jan du Plessis (left) with Namibian minister of youth, sport and culture Reverend Willem Kanjore next to him, production manager Sagaria Amulungu and Karasburg councillor Paulus Ephraim.

Block competition winner Jan du Plessis (left) with Namibian minister of youth, sport and culture Reverend Willem Kanjore next to him, production manager Sagaria Amulungu and Karasburg councillor Paulus Ephraim.

Capespan will be promoting prize-winning Namibian grapes in special packaging this season.

There were 15 entries to the exporter’s competition open to blocks of vines of a range of varieties. The winner was Jan du Plessis for his 9ha of Thompson Seedless.

His 16-year old plantation demonstrated excellent berry size and is expected to pack out at an amazing 5,000 cartons a hectare. Fruit from the winning block will be identified on packaging to draw attention to its prize-winning status.

Competition was tough according to one of the judges, Capespan technical manager Janneman van Zyl. He said: “With such a high standard, the Namibian blocks would have fared exceptionally well in any Western Cape block competition - contrary to 10 years ago”.

Jan du Plessis is pictured (far left) with Namibian minister of youth, sport and culture Rvd Willem Kanjore, and du Plessis’s production manager Sagaria Amulungu holding the trophy with local Karasburg councillor Paulus Ephraim far right.

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