"Grape farmers have done wonders this season"

As the Hex River enters its final stretch of packing (mostly Crimson and Scarlotta Seedless), the South African grape industry looks back on one of the most difficult seasons in recent times, during which grape farmers in the southern part of South Africa have done wonders given their circumstances, says Kobus Louw, general manager of Sapex. The company has largely finished packing for the season and the last grapes will be shipped this coming weekend.

“In the Western Cape where water was an issue there were some quality issues with white seedless and red seedless. In the Berg River we had difficulty with the berry size on mid-season red and black grapes, like Red Globe and Crimson, and on Thompson extra-large berry size was few and far between. There were colour issues in the Berg River and Hex River areas, although colour is coming on faster now that night temperatures are dropping. Everyone thought the Hex season would finish sooner, but in the end it ran its normal course, perhaps because of the delay in colouring.”

Farmers have had to be innovative to make the most of limited water, with some older blocks laid to the side this season. It’s a measure of the critical nature of the drought that some farmers have had to forego the post-harvest fertilisation of blocks due to water constraints, which, he thinks, will have an effect next year.

In the north, where there isn’t a drought, it went well, although the Orange River region’s volumes are down by 20%, despite their ample water supply. “There we found that berry size was smaller and the grapes didn’t have weight. You’d fill up a box and still it wasn’t on weight. It was just one of those seasons that sometimes come along.”

As far as the European market goes, it was a more stable season than expected. “The market held up longer after New Year, there wasn’t a crash, probably because there were fewer grapes in the market. The sales tempo during January and February exceeded expectations. Red seedless did later come under pressure when Chile entered the market with aggressive prices and India came in early with large volumes of white seedless, perhaps anticipating that volumes from South Africa would be down. The biggest challenge for South Africa, however, was the stronger Rand, having a detrimental effect on producer returns.”

“We didn’t send to the Chinese market but from what I understand, the market was slow, no-one’s quite sure why, but the prices were poor in the later part of the season. In Malaysia and Singapore, which we service, prices were relatively stable. The last grapes are arriving now.”

Sapex had a stable season in Africa, with satisfactory prices. He doesn’t see much of the impact of an improved oil price here. “It’s never a market that knocks out the lights, but it went well. Because of cold chain constraints, Africa takes grapes that can take the punch, like Red Globe and Crimson.” 

However, he notes, shipping was a nightmare this season. “I’ve never experienced a season like this. There were a lot of factors: Cape Town Harbour had the wind and Durban Harbour was congested due to problems with the infrastructure, there were times when cargo filled up the harbour. Sometimes we could only ship consignments seven days later which of course has an impact on shelf life. Due to the congestion and late departures, certain delivery ports like Algeciras in Spain were also bypassed many times. We then had to truck the pallets down to Spain from Rotterdam, increasing costs in the supply chain.”

“We’re relieved the season went as well as it did. The challenge next season will be to see what the effect of the drought and in some cases the reduced post-harvest treatment will be. That will become clearer next season when the vines come into flower.”

For more information:

Kobus Louw

Tel: +27 21 883 8280

Email: Kobus@sapex.co.za