The South African citrus season has started with the harvest of the first lemons. “In just over two weeks, we hope to start packing the first oranges,” says Wibo van den Ende of Safe. “It appears to be a good harvest across the board, with more Class I than Class II fruit.”
Exports to Europe are affected by regulations regarding black spot and the false codling moth (FCM). “It will become clear how much influence this will have in a few weeks. Drought has also had considerable impact on certain farms. Circumstances vary significantly per block or plantation in the Western Cape province,” Wibo says.
According to the producer, the planting of new tangerine varieties is remarkable. More lemons are in production in Africa every year as well. Besides, the global increase in demand for juicing oranges boosts Valencia-like citrus. “We see noticeably more demand for this than in the past.”
“We traditionally focus more on retail and catering in Europe. To this end, we work closely with Haluco in Bleiswijk, the Netherlands. The Middle and Far East are traditionally good buyers of South African citrus. We expect exports to Russia to be a bit less. Exports to the US and Canada, on the other hand, will be slightly higher,” Wibo says.