For the past eight years the vegetable division of Dutoit Agri has been exporting sweet potato to Europe and the UK. Based in Ceres, their sweet potato portfolio is fifty-fifty orange and white-fleshed.
The European market, where their largest clients are in France, Germany and the Netherlands, knows and prefers the orange-fleshed variety, while South Africans are familiar with the white-fleshed sweet potato. It is a long marketing window for the South African exporter: from the end of March until the European season starts again in August or September.
“We’re very excited about the future of our sweet potato product line. The consumption, both overseas and in South Africa, is growing tremendously,” explains Pieter du Toit, the director of vegetable packing at Dutoit Agri. “The sweet potato has the potential to become a delicious substitute to your traditional potato side dish.”
He notes that sweet potato is a very challenging vegetable to harvest (and packing the irregularly shaped vegetable into a carton is like “completing a puzzle”). They’ve done a lot of trials in their sweet potato production over the last few years and they have hit upon a winning recipe.
Volumes have remained constant over the years, packed in 6kg cartons for retail and 10kg for wholesale.
“This year the quality is excellent,” he says.
For more information:
Pieter du Toit
Dutoit Agri
Tel: +27 23 313 3200
Email: psf@dutoit.com
http://www.dutoitagri.co.za/