Sundays River Citrus Company has completed construction on a new citrus packhouse in Kirkwood, with the capability to pack 2 million cartons of citrus fruit. SRCC was established in 1924 and is currently the largest grower, packer and exporter of South African Citrus Fruit. SRCC is also the largest employer in the valley and the new packhouse, which is fitted with the latest packing machinery and equipment, will create a huge economic boost for the region and for the SRV community.
Gerhard Potgieter, a project engineer with experience in the construction and establishment of fruit packhouses, was the lead project manager on this project and he was further supported by, amongst others, Aquila Construction, Dekon Construction and Uitenhage Super Steel. The packhouse is fitted with state of the art modern packhouse equipment, to ensure the supply of high quality citrus to international wholesalers and retailers.
The Sundays River Valley currently exports 21 million cartons annually. Growth and expansion of the Sundays River Citrus Company's already successful BEE projects will push production to an estimated 30 million export cartons in the next few years. SRCC further plans to increase packing capacity and introduce new packlines at the Hermitage and Summerville packhouses in order to handle the expected growth in citrus production. In order to better serve the South African Market, SRCC purchased the Addo Cold Store which increases its logistics capability. SRCC has a great climate for the production of lemons and together with the favourable exchanges rate, strong growth in the region is expected over the next few years.
On 21st July 2016, SRCC will be celebrating the official opening of this new packhouse together with SRCC staff, citrus growers, important pillars of the SRV community, government officials from Department of
Agriculture and Department of Rural Development and Reform, as well as SRCC suppliers, clients and agents (local, national and international). The function will start at 18:30, and will include a presentation by guest speaker, renowned economist, Mr. Ulrich Joubert, followed by a dinner. The function will be held inside the new packhouse, so to give the guests the opportunity of experiencing this state of the art packline for the first time.
The South African citrus industry is currently in good shape, and after minerals, represents the country’s biggest foreign earning. The ability to process the current capacity as well as the projected growth in production will in future play an important role in the sustainability of South African Citrus.
For more information:
Leandre Pietersen
SRCC
SRCC
Tel: 042 233 0320