South Africa’s top fruit growers have high hopes for the season due to the European crop’s smaller size and variable keeping quality.
Capespan marketing manager Martin Dunnett said:“While the first Royal Gala will be harvested up to a fortnight later than normal, both size and colour are good, and initial shipments will arrive in mid-February.”
Dunnett was also expecting to see an improvement on the 350,000 cartons sold in the UK last year, followed by a substantial increase in Pink Lady which are forecast to rise from 160,000 cartons to 200,000 cartons.
“Granny Smith and Goldens should be similar to 2003’s levels with a million cartons each,”
Dunnett added. “It will depend on how the market performs."
The pear crop, having faced an off-year in 2003, will be back at full strength.
Packhams for the UK, for example, are estimated to reach half a million cartons, compared with 300,000 last season.
Good results all round will be critical, he stressed, due to the strengthened Rand.
However, a number of cost-saving measures made by the company meant Dunnett was optimistic. "Heavy investment has meant that there is more fruit being poly-bagged at source reducing costs, coupled with direct container delivery,” he said.
“And the overall market is more buoyant with a 10.5% increase in expenditure last year, reflected to a lesser extent by pears, which also rose 3.4%."
New opportunities are also evident through the increasing demand for smaller sizes as a result of the Fruit for Schools project, which has also encouraged retailers to develop more snack packs.
The coming season will also see more Fairtrade apples. While emphasis is on Granny Smith, there will be more Goldens, Pink Lady and Sundowner available.
David Shapley
Capespan marketing manager Martin Dunnett said:“While the first Royal Gala will be harvested up to a fortnight later than normal, both size and colour are good, and initial shipments will arrive in mid-February.”
Dunnett was also expecting to see an improvement on the 350,000 cartons sold in the UK last year, followed by a substantial increase in Pink Lady which are forecast to rise from 160,000 cartons to 200,000 cartons.
“Granny Smith and Goldens should be similar to 2003’s levels with a million cartons each,”
Dunnett added. “It will depend on how the market performs."
The pear crop, having faced an off-year in 2003, will be back at full strength.
Packhams for the UK, for example, are estimated to reach half a million cartons, compared with 300,000 last season.
Good results all round will be critical, he stressed, due to the strengthened Rand.
However, a number of cost-saving measures made by the company meant Dunnett was optimistic. "Heavy investment has meant that there is more fruit being poly-bagged at source reducing costs, coupled with direct container delivery,” he said.
“And the overall market is more buoyant with a 10.5% increase in expenditure last year, reflected to a lesser extent by pears, which also rose 3.4%."
New opportunities are also evident through the increasing demand for smaller sizes as a result of the Fruit for Schools project, which has also encouraged retailers to develop more snack packs.
The coming season will also see more Fairtrade apples. While emphasis is on Granny Smith, there will be more Goldens, Pink Lady and Sundowner available.
David Shapley
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