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Michael Vorster & Leon de Kock – Grape Alliance

USA receives South African grape volumes going China’s way before

In the Hex River Valley growers have had one mission: to shorten the back-end of their crops, so as to be done with packing by week 10 before the grapes can get rained on.

They never used to have the late-season February rain and whether it's because of climate change or temporary weather patterns, they've been experimenting with different structures and plastic-netting combinations up and down the 30 km-long valley.

The Hex River Valley is divided into three distinct microclimates: last year, the middle section was spared the hail and rain which wiped off half of the later varieties in the vineyards on either side of it.


Marketer Leon de Kock and grower Michael Vorster: a grape alliance

"This year it's wonderful that we've had a dry start to the packing season because the quality of the grapes is really good," says the grower-exporter's Michael Vorster. "It's an average harvest on weight but with really good quality and high brix."

He adds that because the grapes are healthy, little handling is required in the packing shed.
They haven't had planned electricity cuts (load shedding) since last season and moreover, adds Leon de Kock, his partner in Grape Alliance: "On logistics, we haven't had a better season in a long time. It's a massive positive for the quality of our grapes in the market."

"Unbelievably" early Crimson aided by new early reds
"In the valley, our main goal is getting production earlier," Vorster explains. "We're packing Crimson today [8 January] which is unbelievably early for this region. Kakamas [Northern Cape] is packing white cultivars at the moment, which is why I'm pushing my red early." The Hex's opportunity lies in an early and good quality red, he adds, and an unusually early Crimson clone discovered in their vineyards – they own five grape farms in the Hex River Valley, a region renowned for its Crimson production – is making it possible, with a supporting cast of new cultivars.

Their faith in ARRA's FIRE CRUNCH™ (ARD 35), an early red, is justified by its performance in the valley, along with another new entrant, Sun World's Ruby Rush®.


High expectations from ARRA's FIRE CRUNCH™ (ARD 35), finding its way in limited volumes to British supermarkets

Also from Sun World, is the Applause™ range which marries the heavy, old-fashioned Muscat flavor of the beloved Hanepoot grape with the texture of an Autumncrisp®. They've planted blocks to bear its first commercial crop next year, and its big berries easily yield 6,000 boxes per hectare, Vorster says.

"You always want consistent supply but at the end of our season, towards the end of February, we're getting more rain. We have to contract our crop on the backside to finish earlier because from week 10 we start getting adverse weather. Until we have sorted out how to keep the rain off our grapes - we'll do it shortly - we have to concentrate to get our grapes off by week 10."

De Kock points out that shortening the packing season and alleviating packshed capacity constraints, require flattening out the peaks from the harvesting calendar. "And the only way to do that is to go earlier. We've been limited by cultivars before but cultivars are now available which are early and which meet consumer preferences. I'm excited that because we've already stretched it on the front side, we can stretch it on the back side too which would be very good for the Hex Valley."


Packing stations during lunch. The ethylene-absorbent lining inside the carton has proven itself very successful during trials

Supplying the US all through Chilean and Peruvian season
De Kock handles the marketing of all of their Hex River grapes as well as the Exhex Group. At this time of the year in China, he remarks, Chilean cherries are preferred to grapes from all origins. "The China market for us is dead because of cherries from Chile. They're loading vesselsful now."

There was a time, not so long ago when the South African table grape industry was willing China to become the dependable market that would lessen their heavy reliance on Europe.
Vorster and De Kock appear not much perturbed by the gloss wearing off the Chinese market. And that's not their sentiment only: Peruvian grape exporters likewise don't regard China as the priority of before. "The Chinese market is just too volatile. When you send a certain quality of grape there, you expect a certain price for it but recently, the price is just not there."



De Kock continues: "On certain new generation varieties, the USA and Canada are becoming more attractive. They're very keen on new varieties, and since the USA needs the same cold treatment as Vietnam and China, it's nothing we're not used to. The volume that used to go to China now goes to the USA. The USA is going to be the next big opportunity for us because competing with Peru and Brazil is not that difficult for us. We can produce the same quality for at least the same price. For the same reason that the UK takes in Peruvian fruit throughout our whole season, I think we're going to supply the US throughout the whole Chilean and Peruvian season."

Currently, the Rand exchange rate with the US Dollar is more favorable to them than the Rand-Euro rate, a factor of major importance in their calculations.


Hex River vineyards

For more information:
Grape Alliance
Tel: +27 23 354 8152
Email: [email protected]
https://grapealliancemarketing.co.za/portal/home.xhtml