Today the Crispy Group is a formidable player in fruit farming based in the hub of Ceres in the Witzenberg district. This is all because of the visionary thinking of the Dutoit Group more than two dozen years ago, helping…
Stellenbosch University, HORTGRO and the ISHS are proud to announce that the XIV International Pear Symposium will take place from 22-26 January 2023 in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The XIV International Pear Symposium will offer a great opportunity to exchange the…
The Jobs Fund (JF) project of the South African deciduous fruit industry is on track and progressing well in the Langkloof. The JF is the commercialisation of emerging growers and an initiative by the Deciduous Fruit Development Chamber (DFDC). It…
Text and picture by Gerrit Rautenbach Jason Baartman is a man who lives passionately for agriculture. At first, he sometimes wondered why he didn’t opt for something like law or engineering or the like. Maybe he felt inferior about being…
Lien Visagie is the newly elected chairperson of the board of Partners in Agri Land Solutions (PALS). Getting there was a long and a hard road, but the road ahead is the real challenge. Gerrit Rautenbach discovered how a light…
Through their involvement in the National Treasury’s Jobs Fund Initiative, the Western Cape and Eastern Cape Departments of Agriculture together with HORTGRO, are showing what can be done when public and private enterprises work together. Text: Glenneis Kriel The Jobs…
It might have been an apple that Snow White bit into that sent her into a death-like sleep but, this notion of suspended animation is not the stuff of fairytales nor science-fiction stories. Apples, one of the most popular fruit…
Competitive canoeing shaped Paul Lombard’s life. Literally and figuratively. But it all happened because of a drought. Gerrit Rautenbach explains. You can clearly see that Paul Lombard, proud manager director of Eve Brand, an apple and pear farm near Misgund…
On 13 March, Hortgro attended the International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA’s) Fresh Solutions event to learn about the latest developments in the logistics landscape, how to plan for exports ahead of a bumper deciduous season, as well as challenges with…
By Mariette Kotzé A recent enquiry regarding how empowerment transactions work sparked this article. There are so many factors and variables to consider. It can be very complex or quite simple depending on your exposure and or understanding of business…
On 14 September 2019 Normat Farms’ Ladies Choir achieved first place for the second year running at the Koue-Bokkeveld Training Centre’s choir evening. They are truly a choir of note, but it didn’t happen overnight. Gerrit Rautenbach reports. The whole…
South African apples already compete successfully in international markets. How can the industry further improve fruit quality? By Anna Mouton. The experiences of some growers during the recent season again demonstrated how even slight post-harvest defects can lead to significant…