South Africa’s blueberry farmers claim they stand no chance of competing on the international stage if they cannot get their berries to their biggest markets: the UK and Europe.
That is why, according to Simon Back, who owns the Blueberry Bar in Simondium, the protracted Transnet strike has been a killer for the sector: “South Africa developed a name for itself for producing really high-quality berries which are largely being exported to the UK and Europe, with a little bit into the Middle East,” Back says. Since they started farming berries 15 years ago, the nature of the industry has changed: as recently as five years ago, blueberries were selling at such a premium that they warranted sending them via air freight to Europe. Now, with growing competition from countries like Peru, that’s no longer the case, forcing farmers to ship the berries.
“Any disruption at the port and shipping can have a devastating impact on growers and the industry at large. It’s been a rough couple of years in terms of shipping, Back says, with the supply chain being “quite the mess”.
That’s an understatement: on the back of Covid, a broken gantry at the Cape Town terminal and now the crippling Transnet strike, the Back group was forced to transport berries by road to Durban.
Source: dailymaverick.co.za