By Charles Hughes It is with sincere regret that we hear of the sad passing of Evan Meirion Williams on Saturday April 24. Meirion had a long career joining Elgin Fruit Juices in the 1980s from Coleman Foods, a division…
All stops are being pulled out, to make logistics of fruit exports run as smoothly as possible, this season. Jacques du Preez, Hortgro’s General Manager: Trade and Markets, said that weekly meetings between Transnet and the various port stakeholders (the…
Text: E Steenkamp South Africa’s pome and stone fruit industries are a cornerstone of the country’s agricultural economy. Roughly 1,150 producers cultivate more than 54,000 hectares across mostly the Western and Eastern Cape, harvesting some 2.13 million tonnes of fruit…
The Plant Disease Clinic at Stellenbosch University – by Anna Mouton We are all familiar with specialists in human medicine — everything from neurologists to urologists. But did you know of the specialists that offer diagnostics for your sick plants?…
SHAFFE recently shared a report regarding the outcome of the exchange of Produce Coalition with the World Shipping Council to discuss current cost hikes and supply chain disruptions as well as potential solutions. Key messages from this exchange: The World Shipping…
HOW TO EDUCATE AND INFORM PEOPLE ABOUT COVID-19, RATHER THAN INFLAME AND STIGMATISE By Engela Duvenage “We don’t want to work with him again, ever. He had the virus.” “I’m not going near her, because her husband’s sister has…
By Gerrit Rautenbach After obtaining his matric in 1994, Vivian Jakobs’s journey through the world of deciduous fruit began with him checking out the playing field. In 2000 he joined Swaarmoed Boerdery in the Warm Bokkeveld. That’s where he crossed…
Text: Gerrit Rautenbach Georgina Hewitt, co-owner of Verdun Estates, Hortgro Stone Vice-Chairperson, and SIZA Board Director, shared her thoughts on “How to shift from compliance to competitive advantage and what we must do next” at the recent SIZA Conference in Paarl…
SIZA (Sustainability Initiative of South Africa ) Social and Environmental standards were benchmarked against the Rainforest Alliance standard. The purpose of the benchmark was to identify the similarities and differences between the SIZA standards and the Rainforest Alliance 2020 Standard…
SIZA audits now visible on the GLOBALG.A.P. Database New connection between platforms The partnership between GLOBALG.A.P. and SIZA is set to make supply chain sustainability and ethical trading now streamlined as SIZA audits will be much more accessible. GLOBALG.A.P. will…
The 10-year conference of The Sustainability Initiative of South Africa (SIZA) took place on 19 August at Ashanti, near Paarl. By Gerrit Rautenbach SIZA’s raison d’être is to cultivate ethical and environmentally sustainable trade practices across a wide range of…