A high-tech undercover farming enterprise at Dube TradePort’s AgriZone has signed a lucrative export deal with a Saudi Arabian retailer to supply locally sourced fresh produce monthly.
McFair Holdings will export 24-ton shipments, including a mix of vegetables and fruit such as avocados and bananas, as well as the brand’s commercial-quality yellow and red peppers.
The latest export deal is part of the company’s operational expansion plan for its packhouse, following the severe disruption to its operations caused by the onset of Covid-19 in 2020, and then the civil unrest that hit in July 2021 while it was harvesting its first crop.
The Covid-19 lockdown interrupted the 2020 pepper production cycle and demand contracted.
“Although demand bounced back towards the end of 2020, providing record pepper sales, the June 2021 unrest severely disrupted the supply chain,” Knox Nxumalo, McFair Holdings chief executive said.
The two devastating events had brought home the importance of diversifying the company’s client base and business, he added. The pepper business remains viable, with the potential to harvest 10 tons of peppers a week across two hectares. New pepper varieties will be introduced to provide year-round production and use the four hectares of climate-controlled glass-covered growing area to its maximum potential.
He said the concept of increasing packhouse throughput through an outsource programme that had been shelved in 2020 had since been reassessed and brought into play. The concept, explained Nxumalo, was to pack other produce, sourced from carefully selected farmers across the country, for their clients.
Dedication to farming and the ability to grow high-quality produce, and provide a continuous supply had been the key factors in choosing suppliers.
Nxumalo said his farmer suppliers were being audited and certified to ensure they met the quality requirements for export.
“Our Saudi client has supplied us with their legal restrictions, and we have integrated these with the harmonised agricultural standard, GLOBAL Good Agricultural Practice (GLOBAL GAP) which we adhere to,” he said.
Although McFair Holdings plans to ship the fresh produce by sea, it has worked closely with the Dube Cargo Terminal logistics team in developing an alternative should the need arise to fly the produce.
To support its export initiative and the enormous potential it holds, the company has also established its own forwarding and clearing agency and is considering offering it services to other customers.
McFair Holdings is the second Black African-owned agri-business to start within the Dube AgriZone, Africa’s first integrated perishables supply chain, and one of the most technologically advanced, future farming platforms on the continent.
“The adjacent Dube AgriZone produces our disease-free seedlings in their nursery, which reduces our plants’ travel time and the risk of damage. We receive feedback from seedling research and the advice we are provided on crop development is critical to improving our crop quality, while the packhouse improves our efficiency,” he said.
“During the lockdowns and unrest, Dube TradePort came up with their own initiatives and solutions to assist us and relieve the pressure on us,” said Nxumalo.
