Capespan rolls out action plan to address grape export issues

Capespan has unveiled an action
plan designed to address difficult
issues related to export grapes in
particular.
Ascribing the fresh new initiative
to international economic woes and
a Brazilian oversupply of product, a
spokesman said it was aimed specifically
at addressing South African/Namibian
grape sales in “arduous” markets.
In a recent report, Capespan says
first on the agenda is to supply timeous
programmes per specification for its
established customer base.
Then the organisation needs to
focus on best quality trading terms due to
liquidity problems in certain instances. It
also needs to supply the best quality, in
view of demand for South African grapes
being “way down” in certain regions.
“Fortunately the Capespan customer
base is solid and with the right quality
and service, we’ll succeed in earning
the best money for our producers,”
says Sarel Joubert, general manager for
marketing.
Thirdly, it has become important “not
to take chances with anything fancy in
the markets”, but rather concentrate on
basic marketing principles.
“Finally, as always, our role is to
find the best market for South African
and Namibian grapes amid highly
competitive conditions.”
While the Northern Cape conditions
allowed for grapes of reasonable quality,
Namibia was unfortunately hit by 50Cplus
temperatures in the first week of
December, the evidence visible in
the market.
Rain in the Northern Cape during
week 45-48 affected quality, even though
the season was better than that
of 2007/08.
Capespan says export grape volumes
have been lower than expected, with a
15%-20% drop over expected volumes
in the early South African and Namibian
areas. This is due mainly to depleted
white seedless volumes.
Joubert says even though grape
shipments to the Far East for the Chinese
New Year amounted to 600 000 cartons,
tardy sales for white seedless grapes
were reported in Hong Kong and South
China, buying power clearly less than has
been the case traditionally.
What is certain is that global
competition, driven by the ongoing
quest for quality, freshness and pricing,
all call for ‘new rules of engagement’
by Capespan.