RAY SMUTS CAPESPAN, one of South Africa’s leading fruit export players despite declining market share in recent years, has walked off with the Absa/Cape Regional Chamber’s Western Cape Exporter of the Year award. Born in 1998 following a merger between Unifruco and Outspan, Capespan exports fresh fruit to the value of R2 billion (66 million cartons) annually, supplying 30 of the world’s largest retailers, Walmart and Tesco among them. If anything, innovation has been the hallmark of all seven finalists, Capespan representing a sparkling example to include sourcing 28% of its deciduous fruit in countries like China and New Zealand and supplying the world’s first lemons minus pips.
