Farmer’s Weekly – 30 August 2019

ABOVE:

PeterNicholson,

a pioneerof

goldkiwifruit

productionin South

Africa,saysthat

heandhisfellow

growersexpectto

collectivelyharvest

about500tnext

year,mostofwhich

willbeexported

toNorthern

Hemisphere

markets.

FWARCHIVE

30 August 2019 farmer’sweekly 15

SouthAfricancannedfruitproducers

have lost R200 million in terms of

production over the past year. This

alarming figure was announced by

Wiehahn Victor, CEO of the Canning

Fruit Producers’ Association, during

the organisation’s recent annual

general meeting and information day

held in Worcester in the Western Cape.

Victor attributed the loss largely to a

decrease in volume produced as a result

of the prevailing drought in many areas,

along with instability in the industry.

He said the industry was seeking

stability in terms of price and volume.

“Toensurethis,long-termcontracts

for producers are essential.”

Victor told farmers that, following

negotiations, Langeberg Foods and

Ashton Foods would now offer them

a long-term contract with a two-year

notice period. However, the agreement

would still include a pricing formula

based on the buyer’s profitability.

He said that the intake of

apricots and pears would also be

based on the four-year tonnage

average, adding that at this stage,

it seemed that peaches would not

be subjected to quotas this year.

Theglobalcannedfruitindustrywas

under pressure due to the per capita

decline in consumption, Victor said.

He added that factories were closing

down worldwide. In the US, the

largest canning factory had closed

its doors, while three factories in

Australia had terminated operations.

However, he suggested that this

offered an opportunity for the

local industry. “The Chinese have

an appetite for our canned fruit,

especially because of the quality and

type of peaches we use. We must take

advantage of this.” – Jeandré van der Walt

Canned Fruit

SA canned fruit producers record large losses

“Gold kiwi fruit are in

exceptionally high demand in

the Northern Hemisphere. The

advantage that South Africa has

is that its gold kiwis are ready for

export four to 12 weeks ahead of

New Zealand, which produces

23% of the world’s gold kiwi

fruit. This is a benefit for South

African producers because gold

kiwi fruit can only be stored

for three to four months, and

so there are limited carry-over

stocks available,” he said.

Another recent positive

outcome had been the discovery

that non-export-quality fruit was

well suited to processing into

value-added dried fruit slices.

In addition, Nicholson and

four fellow growers recently

acquired the rights to grow

Skelton varieties of gold kiwi

fruit in South Africa.

“There’s a complete global

undersupply of gold kiwi

fruit, [and] this is a huge

opportunity for South Africa

to expand production. A major

disadvantage is that orchard

establishment costs are high.

But being both a high-value

and high-yielding crop,

which is uncommon for most

other fruit, allows gold kiwi

producers to quickly recoup their

establishment and management

costs, and to start generating

profits once orchards come

into production,” he said.

Nicholson added that the

industry was looking forward

to the introduction of new

varieties, and was also keeping

an eye on international breeding

efforts to develop a variety of

red kiwi fruit that could produce

larger fruit. – Lloyd Phillips

SouthAfrica’sgoldkiwifruit
production sector, which is only
10 years old, recently concluded
its first-ever major exporting
season. The approximately
180t of fruit were exported to
Northern Hemisphere markets,
including the Netherlands,
Germany, Italy and Singapore.
One of South Africa’s gold
kiwi fruit production pioneers,
Peter Nicholson of Richmond in
KwaZulu-Natal, said he and fellow
producers had achieved an average
of between R30/ kg and R40/ kg
‘back-on-farm prices’ for the
exported fruit. He added that one
of these producers, who exported
organic-certified gold kiwi fruit,
had obtained even higher prices.
Speaking at the Intensive
Growers’ Association’s 2019
Spring-Summer Symposium,
held in Durban recently,
Nicholson said South Africa’s
70ha to 80ha of productive gold
kiwi fruit orchards were expected
to collectively produce around
500t of fruit for exports next year.

Kiwi Fruit

SA exports

its first major

consignment of

gold kiwi fruit