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.