Weekly neWsWrap
ABOVE:
Theprospects
forexpansionof
thelocalavocado
industryare
positiveaslong
asnewexport
marketsarefound,
saysDerekDonkin,
CEOofSubtrop.
FWARCHIVE20 farmer’sweekly 9 August 2019
WineWine tourism toolkit initiativeto driveindustry growth
Despitea currentundersupplyof
avocadosinEuropeancountries
andthefactthatthesemarkets
aregrowingyear-on-year,
SouthAfricadidnothavean
opportunitytosignificantly
increaseexportstotheEU.
ThiswasaccordingtoDerek
Donkin,CEOoftheSouth
AfricanSubtropicalGrowers’
Association(Subtrop),who
saidthatalthoughtherewas
anundersupply,supplylevels
variedweek-to-weekandmonth-
to-monthdependingoncrop
productioninsuppliercountries.
ForSouthAfrica,exportgrowth
thusdependedonaccessingnew
markets.“Demandforavocados
is growing,andtheSouth
Africanindustryis [expanding].
“Tosustaingrowth,however,
weneedtoaccessnewmarkets
[incountries]suchasChina,
theUS,IndiaandJapan.”
Donkinsaidtheassociation
wasintheprocessofsecuring
accesstonewmarkets.
“However,we’renotableto
saywhenwewillgainaccess,as
thisdependsongovernment-to-
governmentprocesses,which
cantakea longtimedepending
ona numberoffactors.
“Peruis ourmaincompetitor.In
a seasonsuchas2018,whenboth
PeruandSouthAfricahadlarge
crops,therewasanoversupply
ontheEuropeanmarketformuch
oftheSouthAfricanseason.”
Thisyear’scropwasestimatedat
14,5million4kg-cartons,or 58 000t,
a decreaseonlastyear’scrop.
“Lastyearwasan‘on’year,
aswellasa bumpercrop,so
a reductionwasexpected,as
avocadotreesarenaturally
alternatebearing,”headded.
Theestimatehadbeen
basedonthecurrent 17 500ha
plantedtoavocadoorchards.avocadosNew markets vital to facilitate
avocado industry growth
According to Donkin, the dry
weather being experienced in
avocado production regions
had contributed to this year’s
smaller crop, and good early
summer rain would be crucial
for the setting of the 2020 crop.
“The outlook for the industry
is positive, as long as we gain
access to export markets other
than the EU, as this is currently
our major export market,”
he said. – Pieter DempseyWine industry body Vinpro recently
launched a wine tourism toolkit to
help wineries develop or expand
their wine tourism footprint.
The toolkit, which was launched
at Nederburg Wine Estate on the
outskirts of Paarl, provides a blueprint
to assist wineries to plan and
implement wine tourism initiatives.
It includes resources, checklists,
templates and case studies.
It was hoped that wineries would
be able to use the toolkit to unlock
additional revenue streams, improve
service delivery, increase revenue from
wine sales and grow brand awareness,
said Marisah Nieuwoudt, wine
tourism manager at Vinpro.“For most companies, wine tourism
revolves around the tasting room
and associated facilities and services.
Due to its visitor-facing role, this
automatically launches wineries
into the realm of hospitality and
tourism, and it’s up to them to
create a multi-visit destination
worthy of visitors’ time,” she said.
According to Rico Basson,
managing director of Vinpro, the
wine industry was a significant
contributor to job creation, GDP and
economic growth in South Africa.
“For every job created on a
wine farm, the industry creates
10 more along the value chain,
and wine tourism plays animportant role in this,” Basson said.
He added that wine tourism had
therefore been identified as one
of the driving forces that would
help the industry reach growth
targets set by the Wine Industry
Strategic Exercise (WISE) by 2025.
The toolkit had been made
available to the industry at
no cost, thanks to funding from
the Cape Winelands District
Municipality and a contribution
from Vinpro. It would be updated
biannually to ensure that the
content remained relevant, he
said. – Jeandré van der Walt- The toolkit is available at
toolkit.vinpro.co.za.
‘market access
depends on
negotiations
between
governments’