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…
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…
By Jacques du Preez After a very disappointing 2021/22 season, which despite a good crop turned out to be a disaster on farm level given trade and logistical issues, stone fruit growers and exporters are looking forward to a much-improved…
Press release: September 2021 South African plum growers are on the doorstep of a make-or-break season that will determine its future and sustainability. According to Hortgro’s Markets and Trade Manager, Jacques du Preez, plum growers faced many challenges over the…
The pome fruit harvest is under way with positive expectations for 2021. Last year saw a much better winter with enough rain in the majority of the production areas. Cooler weather during spring and the flowering period has resulted in…
Suid-Afrikaanse appels en pere het die Indiese mark soos die Springbokke se ‘bomb squad’ getref. In so ‘n mate dat daar kommer oor interne mededinging is. Suid-Afrikaanse soet peer variëteite het ander pere van regoor die wêreld uitgestof en vervang…
Logistieke uitdagings het weereens vir produsente en bemarkers slapelose nagte besorg. “Dit was seker een van die moeilikste seisoene wat ons nog beleef het,” het Jacques du Preez, Hortgro se algemene bestuurder van handel en markte, by die onlangse afsluiting…
Pictured left to right: Jacques du Preez, General Manager Trade & Markets, Hortgro; James Bradshaw, Technical Manager – UK Produce, Tesco; and Tom Emmett, stone fruit buyer, Tesco. Tesco has been named as the South African fruit industry’s Stone Fruit Retailer…
By Jacques du Preez A second black swan event in two years and the impact thereof was completely unforeseen, dramatic, and severe. The industry was faced with fruit in transit prior to the war starting as well as further shipments…
Over the past ten years, Hortgro’s pome and stone fruit growers have strategically invested in key export markets through continuous long-term market development campaigns. These efforts aim to put South African deciduous fruit firmly in the saddle as a world…
Text: Elise-Marie Steenkamp The era of big data is upon us. And it is not just a fad, but will colour how we grow and guide business in future, says Carol Swarts Manager of Agri-Hub – the fresh fruit industry’s…
By Jacques du Preez A Trade & Markets update – 20 April 2020 With the outbreak of the Coronavirus in November 2019 in China, we as the South African deciduous fruit industry, find ourselves in uncharted waters. What seemed to be…