Nice and hot – 36°C yesterday – just the way grape farmers in the Northern Cape like it.
“No rain is predicted for the next two weeks and we expect the grapes will ripen earlier,” says a manager in the Northern Cape grape industry who asks not to be named.
“We started packing on Monday with Prime and Early Sweet. On Friday we’ll start with Starlight.”
He remarks that all of the grapes at his company are spoken for – in fact, orders exceed available supply but it’s normal at the start of the season; later demand flattens off.
Much of the grapes now packed and loaded are meant to hit the pre-Christmas period in Europe and the UK for retail programmes.
Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia also buy South Africa’s early cultivars.
The presence of Peruvian Sweet Globe in China keeps them out during the initial stage of their grape campaign, until they come to the cultivars desired by Chinese buyers.
“We should be able to send Ralli or Midnight Beauty, packed by week 52, in time for their New Year. Unfortunately Chinese New Year’s date falls too early for our Sweet Globe.”
Port congestion is not a new phenomenon and their logistics operators, 'fresh' from the citrus season, are well-acquainted with South Africa’s unpredictable logistics and the back-up plans that always need to be in place.
He is not unduly worried; they obtained containers without problem, he says, but to be safe they are looking at using reefer vessels and air freight (although flying presents challenges with the special markets).