The products are shipped to the United States and arrive between late June and end of October to the Port of Philadelphia and some to the Port of Houston. WCCPF works with a selected group of importers and retailers, with a goal of successfully managing the supply and demand and be on the right side of both. Since 1999 when the program began, both the US demand and South Africa’s supply have increased.
"In 2014, the US received about 45,000 tonnes of citrus from South Africa – a significant increase from the beginning which had the US receiving 600 tonnes in 1999. Volume growth ranges between 15-20 percent per year,” explained Suhanra.
While these are certainly positive figures, South African citrus must also compete against fruit from other exporting countries, such as Chile. “The US is a familiar market for Chile which has long provided blueberries, grapes, apples or pears to the US.”
Furthermore, competition from California is also really strong. "The program from South Africa is not intended to compete with domestic product, particularly that produced from California. We watch carefully, especially at the beginning and the end of our season so as to be in and out of the US market so the South African citrus products complement the domestic citrus.” The local production enjoys greater flexibility, while we have to plan when to ship and estimate when the fruit will arrive. The greatest volume is in the middle of the summer when there is no California fruit in the US marketplace.
"California’s citrus sector, for example, is very powerful, so you ideally want to prevent competing with it and look to complement it. It is also important to remember that it is different from an operational side to handle local or imported production.”
Regarding the overall global market situation, with Europe still as the number one destination, she assures that the devaluation of the Euro is unlikely to cause exporters to switch their shipments to other markets, and this applies also to the U.S., since they work with retail programmes to which producers must remain committed. Currently, only about 3 percent of citrus produced in South Africa is exported to the US.
As for trends in terms of varieties, Suhanra explained that Navel oranges still represent about 80 percent of the shipments to the U.S., although it is no secret that demand for easy-peelers is on the rise all over the world and late mandarins are becoming very popular. It all really depends on the market situation, but Navels are the ones that have grown more gradually.
When it comes to expansion, Suhnara thinks there is still opportunity to expand volumes at 15-20 percent annually in the US. “The key is to grow volumes in regions and with retailers where we have product currently and then to get our citrus to regions beyond the east coast and into retailers which have taken less of or none of the South Africa product. The growth rate we have enjoyed is the result of collaborative efforts with the importers and the retailers combined with reliable shipping arrivals and more than that, consistent quality products.”
Another factor is the need to focus on promotional efforts. In this sense, she explains, “We have been trying to arrange co-branding with our importers to have a unique South African brand, and importers have played a big role in the success of this programme, helping, along with store promotions, to improve the visibility of South African citrus. All in all, we try shipping only premium produce, so consumers identify it as quality fruit.”
Suhanra Conradie
Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum
Tel: +27 82 415 7800
Email: ceowccpf@telkomsa.net
www.summercitrus.com