E Cape cold storage facility planned for Addo

ED Richardson A 4 800 pallet cold store facility estimated to cost around R40 million is planned for the Sundays River Valley, one of SA’s largest citrus producing areas. The need has been identified by the Fresh Produce Terminals (FPT), a major export fruit terminal, as well as other industry players that include the Sundays River Citrus Company, Sundays River Municipality and the government. This will be a black empowered private/public sector partnership. “From the Fresh Produce Terminals’ point of view, we find that fruit is being transported to the Western Province instead of the Eastern Cape, as there are not enough facilities in the province,” says Nicci van Niekerk of the FPT. The FPT has earmarked the Eastern Cape as the highest growth fruit region in southern Africa, as it currently experiences an average growth volume of 9% per annum. With this growth, van Niekerk believes that a cold storage facility will reduce the “hassles for producers and exporters”. “The current situation in the E Cape is that it is the biggest producer and exporter of citrus but there is little availability of cold storage compared to other ports in South Africa,” says Johan Stumpf of the Sundays River Citrus Company. A cold storage facility will save the province seven to eight million rand on costs that are usually charged when fruit is taken to the Western Cape or Natal for shipping, he said.