George King of Paarl and King George V contribute to some vintage Cape fruit stories.
“The peculiar quality of Cape fruit farmers – a democratic, independent breed of people; masters of their estates and their fates; servant to no man.”
Well-known South African writer Siegfried Stander once used these words to describe South African fruit growers. In doing so Stander also told some of the most delightful stories that have become legend in the history of South African exports. And most of them deal in some way or another with the relationship between the South Africans and the UK market.
One of the best tells the story of a charismatic fruit grower from Paarl in the Western Cape, George King, who, during a particularly good harvest during the early part of the previous century, decided to send some of these grapes to King George V – with the simple message: “To King George of Buckingham Palace from George King of Paarl.”
No one knows whether the grapes got there, but it surely reflects how things were done in those days.
Some of the early fruit exports definitely came from the farms of the recently much-maligned Cecil John Rhodes, prime minister of the Cape Colony, bought in the Drakenstein Valley between Paarl and Franschhoek. Few people know that Rhodes actually started his life in South Africa as a farmer. Even in those days Rhodes’ entry into the fruit business was not very popular with other growers, but this did not seem to deter him.
It is recalled that Rhodes once asked another founding father of the South African fruit industry, Harry Pickston – who had a plum named after him - what it would cost to buy the ‘Groot Drakenstein Valley’ – a track of real estate that today covers some of the best-known fruit and wine farms in the Cape. On being told it would be worth £250,000, he simply said: “Then go and buy it!”
Interestingly, the first-ever attempt to develop a brand for South African fruit came from one of Rhodes’ friends, Rudyard Kipling, who was a regular visitor to the Cape. The slogan on this brand was ‘We do not compete, we supplement’, describing how South African fruit growers have always viewed their supply relationship with the UK, and Europe for that matter.
In later years, when protectionist barriers where built to protect European producers and supplying countries increasingly began to invade each other’s space, this became of new significance.
In 1919, at the end of the Great War in Europe, and when the South African fruit export business was still young, a lieutenant of the Royal Engineers wrote to someone in Ceres from the battlefield in France: “Re fruit farming in the Cape Province – I am greatly interested in the above and have land recommended to me, situated near Ceres, Cape Province. Can you inform me whether fruit farming could be conducted in that district.”
“It was a sign of the times,” as Stander noted. “Men in the trenches had dreamed of quiet orchards and peaceful lives.”
There were turbulent early years, but the wars finally forced the South African growers together in order to survive. Controlled marking systems were introduced for citrus and deciduous fruit and they survived just about till the end of the 20th century. It led to the creation of two world-famous fruit brands, Cape and Outspan, which dominated the southern hemisphere season for about five decades.
Former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was holding a bunch of Cape grapes in his hands when he made his famous ‘winds of change’ speech in Cape Town, which highlighted that the exit of European powers from Africa and would lead to South Africa’s isolation.
For the South African fruit-growing community, and the security of some half a million people who depended on the export business for their livelihood, the strong stance of the UK against sanctions would always be a period which further enhanced the bond between the growers and the UK.
The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, was honoured by the naming of a nectarine, Margaret’s Pride, after her. From that day until such time as she could no longer still enjoy the fruit, she received her special delivery of Margaret’s Pride fruit every year.
While there are undoubtedly so many milestones during the past 120 years, the best times were definitely the early 1990s, when Nelson Mandela walked free and South African fruit could take its rightful place in the world’s markets. “It was good to be able to stand proudly again, and it was great to see how much British consumers valued South African fruit,” says Louis Kriel, managing director of Unifruco during these tumultuous times.
Kriel also recalls the important behind-the-scenes role he and the Cape fruit industry played in promoting the environment which would lead to the change that ushered in the new democracy in South Africa. During the late 1980s Kriel would often disappear with other business leaders to secret venues made available by the British government to meet with ANC leaders. On their return, they would do the same with government leaders who were promoting change. In the end Kriel went public in calling for the release of Nelson Mandela. The then South African president, PW Botha, did much finger-wagging at Kriel, telling him straight: “You leave me to run the country, you sell your fruit!”
Eventually, the South African fruit growers also had to face their own Waterloo – the deregulation of the citrus and deciduous industries at the end of the 1990s. After decades of being protected and spoon-fed, they had to find their feet in an increasingly competitive world. An outdated product and cultivar range had to be renewed.
Fifteen years since the turn of the century, the country’s fruit business has been completely repositioned, with exciting new varieties which will delight UK consumers.
If George King was around today, he would indeed have been proud to send his fruit to King George’s successors at Buckingham Palace.
