Capespan’s global strategy comes together

RAY SMUTS THE CAPESPAN Group has made major strides in its global positioning strategy. Last year the group sourced a total of 66 million cartons of fruit from more than 20 countries, for marketing in more than 60 countries. “A quick glance at the scoreboard for the past year will show that our South African volumes remained stable and fruit procured from other sources continued their positive trend,” MD Neil Oosthuizen told FTW. Oosthuizen says due to positive marketing results and a constant focus on costs, the group’s financial results will be better than budget and show a substantial increase on the previous year’s performance. “Our customer base has been extended further, adding numerous new receivers to our blue chip customer portfolio," he said. Capespan remains South Africa’s largest export fruit marketer despite inroads into its marketshare by a number of competitors in recent years. According to a source close to the group, its share of South African fruit exports for the 2004/05 season now stands at below 30%.