The Carmingo harvest has kicked off in the Koo Valley of the Western Cape with which variety within the Carmingo series and because Chilean apricots mostly go to the United States, the field is wide open to South African apricots.
Right: Pierre Burger, owner of Protea Farm, and farm manager Wayne Schoeman with their first Carmingo apricots for the season
“At this stage there aren’t really other countries competing with South Africa on early apricots. Australia and New Zealand also have a bit but not really of such volumes that it bothers us in the UK and the EU,” says Michael Oosthuizen of International Plant Selection.
“There’s very little to zero competition for South Africa at this time of the season.”
He is very excited at the Carmingo varieties that have been primarily established in the Koo valley, in the Klein Karoo and in the Ceres valley. He says the new Carmingo varieties are streets ahead of the early varieties (like Supergold) currently available.
The apricots are flown out from Cape Town and because volumes are limited, the fruit is mostly destined for UK retail.
Carmingo apricots are harvested until week 8 in South Africa, going mainly to the UK and the EU; now and then to buyers in Russia and the Middle East as well.
For more information:
Michael Oosthuizen
International Plant Selection
Tel: +27 83 228 9348
Email: [email protected]