© Star South FruitsStar South Fruits has been a leader in the South African pomegranate business for more than fifteen years, establishing itself as a major pomegranate supplier, and when their own pomegranate plantings are complete, Star South Fruits will arguably have the most hectares of pomegranates planted in the country.
The pomegranate harvest started a month ago in the orchards of their outgrowers in the north of the country, near Modimolle, Groblersdal, and even Dendron, traditionally a potato-growing region.
"Coming Tuesday, we're starting the harvest in the Cape with Acco and Emek. Wonderful, we're expecting towards the middle of March until the end of April," says Jaco Rheeder, Star South Fruits managing director (right).
Pomegranates not immediately shipped are put into storage and fed into the market until June. In South Africa, the pomegranate harvest comes at an awkward time of the fruit calendar, squeezed between the tail-end of stonefruit and the beginning of soft citrus, therefore competing for packing facilities. It's a concentrated harvest, with 85% of the crop picked in a month.
© Star South Fruits
Technical tuning improves perceptions of SA pomegranates
"A lot of the traction in the pomegranate market was created by especially our seasoned commercial manager, Danél Rheeder," he notes. Pomegranates went through a time a few years ago when customers thought South African pomegranates were not that great, he says, due to poor grading, poor marketing, and poor market differentiation. "We've done a lot of work on the technical side since 2022 to improve the quality of South African pomegranates, and during the 2025 season, we really saw demand for our pomegranates increasing."
Their in-house agronomist, Christo Nortjé, supplies all growers with technical advice to improve production, quality, and shelf life.
Star South Agri has since 2024 managed 46 hectares in production. In 2025, they acquired a well-known pomegranate farm called Kruishof near Wellington, planting another 66 hectares. "We're heavily investing in pomegranates now. Our closely affiliated growers have also planted more, bringing our total consolidated hectares in the Wellington area to around 200 hectares."
The reason behind this investment is not to compete with Star South's own growers, Rheeder points out, but rather to bolster guaranteed volumes to their customers, thus securing market share for the company's growers. He says they are guided by the philosophy: "We want to be the best supplier to our customers and the best customer to our growers".
© Star South Fruits
"It's a known fact we beat Peru on the internals"
Peru still offers stiff competition. "The problem is that the Far East is used to Peruvian products, which are cosmetically different from ours. Externally, Peru's fruit is better because of the climate. We've got a lot of wind causing scarring, and it is definitely a challenge that we are busy overcoming. It is a known fact that we beat Peru on the internals. That's why processors prefer South African pomegranates."
If one looks at the UK and Europe, he says, probably 80% of the pomegranates sold are de-arilled, as an ingredient in fruit salad or in a tub. "Peeling closer to the retailer is better than peeling at source, it gives our customers more shelf life on the de-ariled product."
Their receivers can store the pomegranates until September, when the Northern Hemisphere's crop starts. "South Africa and Türkye's seasons complement each other very well as we come into the market as they exit," Rheeder explains.
"If you look at the demand for pomegranates, especially from the peeling side, we can easily double up," he says. "Because of our new plantings, we'll double our volumes over the next five years, bringing us to over 7,500 tonnes, which, in global terms, is still very small. The industry is very healthy at the moment."
An uncertainty on the horizon concerns the use of the postharvest fungicide fluodoxinil. It has been in the sights of European lawmakers for some time, hence they are proactively looking for alternatives.
© Star South Fruits
For more information:
Jaco Rheeder
Star South Fruits
Tel: +27 83 324 4454
Email: [email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/starsouthfruits/
