The Daan Strydom Science and Technical Award is an accolade that recognises excellence in research, science, and technology, and honours those whose work has transformed the deciduous fruit industry. This year, we celebrate not just an achievement, but a lifetime…
By Carlie Solomon The Port of Cape Town has long suffered from operational inefficiencies that significantly delay fruit shipments. These inefficiencies have far-reaching economic consequences, with substantial portions of fruit lost due to spoilage and quality degradation. The resulting increase…
Currently, the industry is in a very precarious position with the current operational status of the Cape Town (CT) port. The industry, and country, is losing millions of Rands on a daily basis due to inefficiencies resulting in berthing delays…
Last season, Agbiz ran a pilot project (Genset project) with Transnet to create additional temporary plug-point capacity at the Port of Cape Town. The project was funded via donations from FPEF, SATI, Hortgro, the KAL Group and the Western Cape…
Despite Covid-19 and a few tough drought years, the deciduous fruit industry has been blessed with exceptional harvests in every fruit category managed by Hortgro, after “near-perfect growing conditions”. Hortgro expects a record apple and pear harvest this season, despite…
The South African stone fruit industry is preparing for the 2025/2026 export season with optimism, thanks to favourable weather conditions during winter and blossoming, which led to good fruit set and fruit quality across most production regions. Overall export volumes…
The current pome fruit season is well underway after a later start, says Jacques du Preez, Hortgro General Manager: Trade & Markets. “The season so far is 7 – 10 days later than normal. This can be attributed to a…
Paarl, 8 November 2024 — Transnet’s Cape Town Terminals, including both the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT) and the Cape Town Multi-Purpose Terminal (CTMPT), are preparing for a successful deciduous fruit export season with a fleet boost of over 70…
Most people reach into the supermarket fridge and pull out a bag of apples without much thought. Where was it grown? How did it get from the tree into a bag? How did the bag end up on the shelf?…
Deur Elise-Marie Steenkamp Johan Strydom is dalk klein van postuur, maar hy laat reuse spore in die Suid-Afrikaanse sagtevrugtebedryf na. Vir meer as vyf dekades was hy aan die voorpunt van logistieke innovasie, verpakking en koelkettingontwikkeling. Sy nalatenskap lê nie…
By Jacques du Preez Although we believe we have reached a turning point, specifically in the Port of Cape Town, regarding the logistical crisis, we foresee another challenging season from a logistical point of view. Therefore, growers, exporters, and logistical…
By Jacques du Preez 25 March 2022 We were hopeful that the situation in the Cape Town port would improve after the issues encountered over December 2021 and into January/February 2022, but despite some glimmers of hope of clearing the…