In the industry, there are quite a few young orchards that perform exceptionally well despite difficult climatic conditions. To acknowledge the hard work that goes into producing top quality fruit, Hortgro Science is launching the “Bakgatboord Series” . Over the…
Sixteen years after Thailand banned the import of South African deciduous fruit, due to an administrative error, negotiations are progressing in the right direction. At the time of the imposition of the ban on the exportation of South African fresh…
By Waheed Mahomed The past few years have been a time of instability that many people find unfamiliar and leave us feeling insecure. Instability often leads to an increase in uncertainty, discourages investment and negatively impacts any product or system…
The South African 2020 apple export season has started amidst some uncertainty as to how the COVID-19 outbreak will influence international trade. What is certain though, is that there has been a strong West-East trade shift over the past two…
Due to adverse weather events like hail and floods earlier in the year, Hortgro has revised its export forecasts for the 2023 season. The estimated export volume for apples is 40.883 million cartons (12.5 kilograms per carton), showing a 10%…
Shipments of South African apples to the UK market have risen by 20 percent during the 2018 season, says Hortgro, the organisation representing growers in South Africa. Cumulative volumes of the fruit to the week ending July 1st, 2018, showed…
By Wilechia van der Westhuizen If you’ve ever wondered what happens to your fruit after it leaves the pack store, here’s a snapshot: right now, South African apples and pears are starring in marketing campaigns across China, Thailand, India, and…
By Gerrit Rautenbach Pieter Graaff won the coveted O.S.H. Reinecke Industry Leader Award at the Deciduous Fruit Industry Gala Awards 2019. Deservedly so, but success didn’t happen overnight. It consists of a chain with many links; a great story with…
The 2025 apple export season ended at a high of 49.6 million equivalent cartons (12.5 kg). The initial estimate for the 2026 export season indicates a 5% increase in volumes, bringing expected apple exports to 52.2 million equivalent cartons. The…
Ouplaas is an exceptional farm in the Witzenberg Valley. More impressive is that many of the inhabitants are runners. No, not running away, but running to be better at what they do. Breaking records in all sorts of events. Maybe…
There is more than one type of transformation in this world. The most important one for the father and two daughters team of Protea farm was to farm for themselves. But then getting new life into old orchards was the…
Lox, stock and barrel Loxtonia cider of Ceres’ story by Gerrit Rautenbach. “The fact that we started making cider is because we’ve got sun in South Africa. An abundance of sun. Resulting in a high percentage of sunburn and related…