Group says that ”a healthy crop of sweet and delicious citrus” will head to the port of Philadelphia in the coming days
Summer Citrus from South Africa (SCSA) has announced the kick-off of its 2024 harvesting season after successfully concluding the 2023 campaign, a year that meant it had amassed 25 years of experience shipping citrus to the US.
The group emphasised that this was an “exciting time”, with shipments of citrus from South Africa more than doubling since 2019.
“We are officially 25 years on the sunny side and commencing into our 26th season with a healthy crop of sweet and delicious citrus fruit headed to the port of Philadelphia in the coming days and more to come throughout the summer months,” said Suhanra Conradie, CEO of Summer Citrus from South Africa.
The first vessel, the MSC Houston, is carrying the fruit from Cape Town and is expected to arrive in the US at the Port of Philadelphia the first week of June, with weekly shipments continuing through the end of October.
SCSA will kick-off the shipping season with clementines followed by Navel oranges and Star Ruby grapefruit.
“It is important that we recognise the hard work and commitment of the service providers who have been part of our continued success story,” said Conradie.
“We are serving one of the world’s most demanding markets, and adapting to the current state of the supply chain on any given day is a key factor of our business model,” she added. ”We have gained much momentum with our collaborative approach and intend to keep it going in 2024.”
Summer Citrus from South Africa said it was ”positioned well” to sustain shipping options to cater to the overall growth of the programme, splitting its volumes equally between dedicated conventional vessels and container vessels in the Port of Philadelphia.
”The team’s group of focused service providers, spanning the total supply chain, in the US and South Africa, are all primed to deliver on a successful 26th shipping season,” the group stated.
