SA berry industry body relaunched BerriesZA recently released data that shows a significant increase in South African blueberry exports for the 2020/21 season. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic last year, blueberry exports increased by more than 27%, growing from 12 221 tons to 15 636 tons.
T
he growth of the South African berry industry over the last five years is one of the country’s great agricultural success stories. Exports have grown from just 1 792 in 2015 to 15 636 tons. This growth has supported the rapid increase of employment in the industry from just 1 000 workers in 2014 to more than 8 000 workers in 2019. In recognition of the industry’s growing strength on the world stage, it was decided to relaunch the South African Berry Producers Association (SABPA) as BerriesZA. This marks an important new chapter in the South African berry success story. Where SABPA was primarily a producer organisation, BerriesZA includes role-players along the entire berry value chain through its joint marketing forum (JMF). The JMF brings together all stakeholders to tackle industry problems and to collaborate to ensure the best possible results for the industry as a whole. BerriesZA has been mandated to become the enabling commodity organisation with a new mission to build the South African berry brand here at home and abroad. South African blueberries are globally renowned as some of the highest quality in the world. In another victory for SA berries, one of the large commercial exports recently was awarded two superior taste awards.
As part of the launch of the new entity, BerriesZA will embark on a roadshow throughout the country meeting with member growers and breaking down the details of the new mandate of the organisation. This is to ensure that all stakeholders understand the focus of the organisation and how they can make use of its forums and resources so that they can benefit fully from the remarkable growth the industry is experiencing. The roadshow will kick-off in the Western Cape at Diamant Estate in Paarl. It will then move to the Graham and Rhona Beck training Centre outside Robertson, Chiltern Farms in Vyeboom and Outeniqua Boereverenigingsaal in George. The roadshow will then move to the northern parts of South Africa in May with stops in Rustenburg, Groblersdal, Nelspruit and KwaZulu-Natal. The South African berry industry is poised to become a major force in the global market due to the superiority of the fruit compared to berries from other countries. By 2024, they aim to have increased production to 62 000 tons and exports to 44 000 tons. This will translate into 3 000 new jobs for South Africans in the local berry industry. To achieve these goals, they will be focusing their efforts in the coming years on gaining access to new markets, primarily in the Far East, where demand for South African berries is high. The newly acquired membership of FruitSA – the umbrella body for SA fruit – is a step in this direction.
Agriculture input cost pressures mount as fuel price increases PAUL MAKUBE FNB AGRI-BUSINESS Fuel is the lifeblood of the agriculture value chain with all processes from farm to fork heavily reliant on its availability at the right time and at an affordable price. The recent developments from a fuel perspective indicate that the determinants of fuel prices have all trended on the upside with Brent crude oil prices rising by 6,7% m/m in April 2021 to average US$64/ barrel and the rand exchange rate depreciating by 1,3% to R14,95/ US$ during the same period.
SA GROENTE & VRUGTE | MEI • JUNIE 2021
This comes at an unfortunate time with the onset of the winter crop planting season and summer crop farmers gearing themselves for the winter harvest. The industry is heading into increased activity in the agriculture calendar and demand and consumption of fuel is expected to increase in the medium term. The escalation in fuel costs does not bode well for producers as production costs are likely to escalate across the value chains, with varying impact on planting, harvesting, distribution and packaging. The prices of derivatives of crude oil processing such as fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides are likely to increase should the recent uptrend persist.
7
