‘Sensational’ season for SA grape exporters

A sweet season for SA table grapes has seen record-breaking volumes and exports, and sales to virtually all global markets rising dramatically. “All five production areas have finished harvesting, and the total we are looking at of nearly 60 million cartons represents a 6% growth in comparison to 2008/2009. It has been a sensational season,” Rhomona Gounden, international relations manager for the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) told FTW. Gounden said that 91% of product was inspected and passed for export, with the remainder sold on the local market. Exports to the Middle East were up 38% from last year (3 024 696 cartons vs 2 184 254) while SA grape shipments to the Far East were 40% higher than 2008- 2009 (4 716 007 cartons vs 3 302 498 cartons). While the traditional big market, Europe, was off by 1% (30 921 575 cartons from 31 147 173 cartons last year) shipments to the UK escalated 7% (11 124 539 cartons from 10 375 702 last year) and rose by 19% to remaining markets. All was seafreighted but for 669 000 cartons that went by air. 60% of airfreighted grapes went to the UK; 17% to the EU, 15% to the Middle East and 6% to Africa. “The 2009/2010 season has registered the highest production volumes since the start of the deregulation era,” said Sifiso Ntombela, marketing director for the Paarl-based SATI.