"Overall it has been a busy season and it is going well," explains Roelf Pienaar, managing director of Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing. "We have had some initial challenges with keeping quality and size due to the extreme heat but it is going better than was expected."
He said the smaller fruit has put pressure on them to find the right markets for the fruit. "Traditionally the UK took the smaller fruit, but we did manage to find other markets in the Far and Middle East. The UK started later this year and the window there is smaller because they are buying more British apples now than before, but hopefully we will go on a bit later so it may equal out."
What is encouraging in Africa just now is the increase in the oil price, it has broken the 50 dollars a barrel mark, but according to Roelf they are not out of the woods yet but it is getting better. The volumes of Goldens shipped to that market are up 20% in volume year on year. He explains that the main aim in Nigeria specifically, is to get in before Ramadan. Despite fears at the beginning of the season about the ability of African markets to absorb the volumes it is going better that they had expected.
"A small amount of South African apples have been shipped to China, but this is a market that needs to build up again as we have been away for quite a while," explains Roelf. "We don't always have the sizes needed for this market. Where we are strong in Asia is Malaysia, and Singapore, China has potential but it will take time, once it opens up for pears there will be an opportunity for varieties such as Forrell."
In China, South Africa are competing with countries such as New Zealand and Australia who have closer proximity and have better trade deals, making it much more favourable for them. "It is an exiting market, a bit like Africa a few years ago, there are big opportunities there. The quality needs to be right, you need to hit the market at the right time and you need the right receivers/partners there," explains Roelf.
Tru Cape grows apples in two major areas, Grabouw and Ceres. Our overall volumes from Grabouw were very good, but we were down out of Ceres. Volumes available for export of Pink Ladys are down, Forrell pears were also down but overall total volumes were up.
"The rand is still weaker against the Dollar, Euro and Pound which puts a positive spin on it for us in terms of returns, but the counter argument is that our costs are Dollar based so it is a short term gain. What we actually prefer is a steady Rand but that is not what have at the moment and with local government elections coming up at the beginning of August I think it will remain volatile," said Roelf.
For more information:
Tru-Cape
Tel: +27 21 850-1800
Email: info@Tru-Cape.co.za
www.Tru-Cape.com