Remarkable Compliance in the South African Stone Fruit Industry

The South African stone fruit industry continues to demonstrate that strong export performance and responsible production go hand in hand.

As the 2025/26 stone fruit season unfolds, early compliance data indicate a sector that not only meets international social and environmental standards but also increasingly embeds them in everyday business practice. The results reflect an industry that has matured significantly in its compliance journey, setting a benchmark for sustainable agriculture both locally and globally.

Running from November to April, in line with Hortgro’s industry calendar, the stone fruit season is a period of intense operational activity. Against this backdrop, maintaining high compliance levels is no small achievement. Yet data collected by SIZA auditors between 1 October and 31 December shows encouraging outcomes across both social and environmental standards, underscoring the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement even during peak production months.

Strong participation and national footprint

According to SIZA statistics, 418 stone fruit suppliers actively participated in compliance processes during the current season. These suppliers are geographically spread across South Africa, with a strong concentration in the Western Cape, which accounts for over 93% of social and 94% of the environmental stone fruit subscriptions. Smaller but significant supplier groups are also active in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and surrounding regions, reflecting the industry’s national footprint.

This widespread participation is particularly noteworthy given the complexity of compliance requirements and the operational pressures faced by growers and packhouses during the season. High engagement levels suggest that compliance is no longer seen as a box-ticking exercise but as an integral part of how stone fruit businesses are managed.

A major contributor to rural employment

Beyond compliance metrics, the stone fruit industry plays a vital socio-economic role, particularly in rural areas. More than 112 000 agri-workers are employed across stone fruit supply chains, making the sector a significant source of employment and livelihoods.

Temporary male workers form the largest group, followed by temporary female workers and permanent male employees. These figures, however, represent only part of the industry’s broader impact. When families living on farms, office staff, logistics workers and service providers are included, the stone fruit value chain supports many more people than the primary employment figures suggest.

Continuous improvement beyond the audit

One of the most striking indicators of the industry’s maturity is its approach to continuous improvement. Compliance is no longer limited to audit years. The Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), a core component of the SIZA audit methodology, plays a critical role in between-audit monitoring. Updated annually, the SAQ ensures that compliance systems remain active and effective throughout the audit validity period.

During the current season, average SAQ scores reached an impressive 97,03% for social compliance and 88,30% for environmental compliance. These high scores demonstrate that stone fruit suppliers are maintaining robust systems even when third-party audits are not immediately pending. While social compliance has been part of the industry landscape since 2008, environmental compliance is a more recent requirement, introduced only over the past three years. Despite this, suppliers have shown remarkable dedication in closing the gap, resulting in consistently positive environmental outcomes.

Exceptional results

Third-party audit performance further reinforces the positive compliance narrative. To date, 52 social audits have been initiated for stone fruit suppliers, with 81% already completed in full. Of these completed audits, 71% achieved Platinum status, 19% Gold, and 5% Silver. These results indicate a sector that has embedded social compliance into daily operations rather than treating it as an external obligation.

Environmental audits have delivered equally strong results, and in some respects even more striking ones. Of the 54 environmental audits initiated so far, 25% have been completed in full, and all have achieved Platinum status. While environmental audits often take longer to finalise due to the nature of corrective actions, the outcomes highlight how well environmental principles are already integrated into South African export-oriented agricultural practices.

Many of the audited suppliers participated in the SIZA CARES capacity-building programme before their environmental audits. This programme has proven instrumental in helping suppliers demonstrate compliance with existing practices, such as responsible water use, soil management, energy efficiency, and fuel consumption monitoring.

Learning and improving

As expected in any robust audit system, findings do arise. The most common social audit findings relate to occupational health and safety management, including risk mitigation, training, and workplace systems. These areas are comprehensive by nature and form a substantial part of the social audit checklist.

Environmental findings most frequently relate to the absence of formal carbon footprint calculations and emissions-reduction plans with defined targets. Importantly, suppliers are responding proactively, using these findings as a catalyst to strengthen long-term sustainability planning rather than treating them as compliance hurdles.

Turnaround times for corrective actions have improved significantly compared with previous seasons, reflecting growing confidence, improved systems and effective collaboration between suppliers and auditors. This improvement is further evidenced by the limited need for Bridging Letters. Only eight were issued this season, and 75% of affected suppliers have already completed their corrective actions. Notably, no audit disputes have been recorded on the MySIZA platform, indicating constructive engagement throughout the compliance process.

High-performing sector with momentum

As the season progresses, further improvements are expected as more audits are completed and SAQs updated.

In an increasingly demanding global market where buyers expect transparency, accountability and sustainability, the stone fruit industry’s compliance performance is more than a regulatory achievement. It is a competitive advantage and a clear signal that South African stone fruit producers are serious about protecting their people, the environment and the long-term resilience of the industry.

• Information supplied by SIZA. Find the original SIZA newsletter article here: Stone Fruit Compliance_SIZA