South Africa's Fresh Produce Exporters Forum (FPEF) believes China may open up for the country's apples next year, possibly even as early as this December, after more than 14 years of negotiations.

Port of Cape Town

FPEF CEO Anton Kruger told www.freshfruitportal.com inspectors from China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) visited South Africa in April and appeared satisfied with what they saw.

"We trusted the technical protocol was signed but it still needs to be signed on the political level," Kruger said.

"So we really hope that we will be able to do exports for apples from South Africa the next season, so that will be from the beginning of next year starting from December, because we see that Chinese market is a very big growing market.

"And South Africa is counterseasonal to China so we think there's a lot of potential here to export apples."

He said 22% of South Africa's apple exports were exported to the Far East, adding a Chinese opening would "not necessarily" take volumes away from other established markets.

The executive highlighted a growing trend in apple production since 2009, which warranted a push into new markets such as China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. The industry has also managed to diversify its market portfolio significantly in closer regions over the last few years.

"What's interesting in apple exports from South Africa currently is that we are exporting 27% of our apples to Africa, while about five years ago the majority of our apples were sent to Europe and the U.K.

"So the market dynamics are changing, but we are also seeing more and more apples being planted in South Africa."

But Kruger believes it is not just new plantings that are improving production, but also the efficiency of farms and the types of varieties in orchards.

"South Africa is very much focused on what the consumer wants - because South Africa is relatively far away from the market, there’s the shipping cost over logistics so you don't want to send fruits that won't be sold in the market because of the high cost involved...you must be careful.

"South Africa wants to be a responsible country especially from our side as the Fresh Produce Exporters Forum. We represent 90% of the fresh produce exporters in South Africa, but we don't accept everybody as members."

"We invest a lot of money on the research, to see how can we extend the shelf life of the product to ensure that if we ship to China, when there’s a 23-24 day voyage, the fruit arrives with a long shelf life without compromising quality."

Photo: www.shutterstock.com

www.freshfruitportal.com