{"id":280,"date":"2017-03-24T08:07:59","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T06:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/?p=280"},"modified":"2017-04-10T13:46:34","modified_gmt":"2017-04-10T11:46:34","slug":"south-africa-the-later-grape-varieties-outshone-the-earlier-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/?p=280","title":{"rendered":"South Africa: “The later grape varieties outshone the earlier ones.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Managing to pretty much sidestep the effects of South Africa\u2019s severe drought, which it anticipates will cause only minor table grape harvest losses this year, Cape Town-based producer and exporter SAFE (South African Fruit Exporters) is set to\"SAFE not only achieve its 2017 production target, but also expects to exceed last year\u2019s harvesting figures by 30%.<\/p>\n

This is despite the effects of two major climatic conditions: the epic drought that still\u00a0has much of SA firmly in its grip and consequential low water levels; and high summer temperatures, resulting in a smaller berry size than in the past.<\/p>\n

Dries van Rooyen, General Manager of Farming Operations, SAFE, says: \u201cDue to these conditions we\u2019ve witnessed a see-sawing quality curve. After kicking off with \u2018good\u2019-quality arrivals (as scored by our overseas markets), we noticed that the harvest\u2019s quality switched to \u2018average\u2019, and then back to \u2018good\u2019 again \u2013 this fluctuation carried on throughout the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, SAFE did manage to bring in a solid harvest. Especially the Western Cape\u2019s later varieties exceeded our pre-season expectations and delivered a superb performance. Overall, the later varieties outshone the earlier ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 95% of its harvest already packed, shipped or delivered to export markets, SAFE is currently wrapping up its 2017 picking and packing activities. At Wellington in the Western Cape, the last Sugraone, Barlinka, Crim\"SAFEson, Red Globe and Dauphine are making their way to the pack house.<\/p>\n

While recent heavy downpours in the Orange River area didn\u2019t upset SAFE\u2019s crops as its Northern Cape farms had already completed their harvesting at the time, the producer-exporter will likely face harvest losses of 2% to 3% in the Western Cape\u2019s Berg River area. Here the drought has necessitated water restrictions (water only two-and-a-half days per week) over the last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately we\u2019re concluding our harvesting here within the next few days, and now only irrigate fruit-bearing vineyards,\u201d says Van Rooyen.<\/p>\n

Owing to this year\u2019s dry, warm season, SAFE harvested considerably less extra-large-size grapes and a much bigger quantity of large-size berries of a normal quality, which it pushed into the market. \u201cBecause of the boiling temperatures we had to adjust our harvesting methods and cool down picked grapes quicker,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Far East opens arms to SA exports; rallying rand turns up pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n

While SAFE has continued exporting to Europe, the United Kingdom and Middle East this year, it also joined fellow SA exporters in shipping more grapes to the Far East, a market that has been welcoming SA produce with open arms. Wibo van den Ende, Marketing & Sales Director, SAFE, explains: \u201cOur country\u2019s exports to the Far East are definitely on the rise, especially as we\u2019re successfully matching their shopping-list musts: superb varieties, an extra-large berry size and excellent presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traditionally SA\u2019s key competitors are Chile, Peru, Argentina, India, California and Australia. \u201cThis year, in the European market, SA\u2019s been facing competition from Brazil and Peru at the season\u2019s start, and from Chile and India at the end. We\u2019ve experienced far more pressure in Europe as there\u2019s been a greater supply to this region \u2013 from the USA, Chile, Peru and India. In fact, around the globe more table grapes were produced this year \u2013 because of higher yields from later a\"SAFEreas,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

SA has shipped more grapes to Europe, the Far East and Middle East \u2013 thanks to a demand for its varieties and quality – and less to Russia and the USA. \u201cA definite advantage for SA is our produce\u2019s superior quality and our strict quality standards; that\u2019s why several markets and buyers prioritise our fruit,\u201d adds Van Rooyen.<\/p>\n

SA also still enjoys a good window as the country doesn\u2019t share too many ripening and delivery timeframe overlaps with its competitors. \u201cThere are times when SA is a standalone exporter. When we do have overlaps with competitors – at the SA season\u2019s beginning and end \u2013 we have our job cut out for us,\u201d says Van den Ende.<\/p>\n

He adds that the current strong rand has also not made life any easier for SA\u2019s exporters. \u201cIn dollar and euro prices we perform well and even surpass selling prices we\u2019ve reached in the past, but once these figures are converted back to rand, they instantly lose their power. The rand\u2019s too strong now; we need a weaker rand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeded versus seedless<\/strong><\/p>\n

White seeded table grape varieties have been dubbed by some \u201can endangered species\u201d and\u00a0it is true that the number of markets seeking seeded cultivars is shrinking. However, according to SAFE, there is still a market for red and black seeded varieties in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Far East.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year we\u2019ve once again seen our seeded varieties – Dan-ben-Hannah, Victoria and Red Glob\"SAFEe – coming to the party with exceptionally high volumes of a good quality. Seedless grapes might achieve higher selling prices, but they turn out lower yields per hectare. When one adds up the figures, both result in roughly the same net agricultural income,\u201d explains Van Rooyen.<\/p>\n

About 5% to 8% of SAFE\u2019s overall crop consists of seeded varieties. \u201cBecause they\u2019re so fertile (their berries enlarge naturally) and cost less to prepare for harvest, we\u2019re keeping our seeded-grape blocks which still produce satisfactorily. Those that don\u2019t, we\u2019re replacing with seedless ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laying the table for 2017\/18 <\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Van den Ende, SAFE and other SA exporters should expand their reach in the future and ship to destinations outside Europe, as well as new, emerging markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere we followed a more market-driven approach in the past, we now have to pack, size and deliver a tailor-made product with specific receivers in mind – be it clients, retailers or areas. Previously, we started exporting as early as possible and competed for\"SAFE as long as possible. Those days are over. We need to execute our planning carefully \u2013 per variety and per market.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that disciplines across the whole supply chain should be performed to the highest standard – from harvesting, packing, cooling and sizing, to loading into containers. \u201cQuality control is of the utmost importance,\u201d concludes Van den Ende.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Managing to pretty much sidestep the effects of South Africa\u2019s severe drought, which it anticipates will cause only minor table grape harvest losses this year, Cape Town-based producer and exporter …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[56,53,57],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions\/309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}