Two South African categories predict export drop
The South African avocado export crop has been reduced by around 2.5m cartons as the season reaches its halfway point. At the same time, the country’s citrus industry has announced that its

Short South African citrus season predicted
Export estimates for various citrus categories have been amended downwards: navels by 500,000 15kg cartons to reach an estimate of 24.8 million 15kg cartons; grapefruit by 100,000 cartons to 14.3

Successful Australian avocado trial for IG International
IG International has successfully completed its first trial shipment of Australian avocado with 176 cartons of the fruit landing in Mumbai. The Indian importer collaborated with Australian avocado

"The fruit and vegetable sector should perhaps be the last among all sectors subject to these rules."
The European Commission's new proposal on packaging, which aims to reduce excessive packaging and make everything else reusable or recyclable by 2030, has generated a lot of debate recently. We

Harvest of first lettuce varieties started this week for Quebec grower
Located about one hour south of Montreal and about 15 minutes from the US border, the garden of Quebec is a key growing region for many different vegetable varieties. “We are one of the major

A closer look at South African citrus for 2023
Vanguard has received the full estimate for the 2023 citrus crop in South Africa. The latest estimate is 165.6 million cartons--800,000 more than last year. Two interesting commodities have

South African rail issues threaten citrus growth
The optimisation of South Africa’s rail system has been identified as a key enabler if the country’s citrus industry is to realise its vision of exporting 260m cartons of the fruit by 2032.

South Africa: Citrus industry expects growth of 100 million cartons in the next ten years
South Africa's citrus industry is currently facing a huge challenge, as based on the number of new orchards established, the industry is expected to grow by another 100 million cartons by 2033.

Lemon exports pull ahead of last year
The South African lemon harvest which started three to four weeks earlier than last year has resulted in accelerated exports: by week 17, exactly two million cartons (15kg) more than last year YTD

SAAGA encourages South Africans to add an avo (or two) to any meal
Due to the expected increase in avocado volumes (now estimated at 20 million 4 kg cartons for exports) and an early start to the 2023 season, the South African Avocado Growers' Association (SAAGA)

Noah, the pallet made from recycled raw materials
The new sustainable pallet is called Noèe and is made from the secondary raw materials derived from the post-consumer processing of the poly-bundle used for Tetra Pak® type beverage cartons. The

This year’s citrus game plan is maximising value, not volume
Southern Africa’s citrus volumes continue their upward trajectory – an estimate of over 166 million 15kg cartons at this point, from 127.2 million cartons in 2019. Citrus farmers are under

South African lemons head to markets outside Europe
The South African citrus season is barely a month underway, and the country’s lemon exporters are clearly favouring Middle Eastern, Russian and Asian markets for their early shipments. The first

South Africa: Citrus exports go mainly to Russia, Asia and the Middle East
The citrus season has been underway in Southern Africa for about a month, covering mainly South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini, with lemon exports going mainly to the Middle East (50%), Russia

More than one million cartons of pears exported to China in first season
The top fruit harvest is well underway in South Africa, with 12 million cartons of apples already packed and exported. The apple export season is a good third of the way through. Nine million

South Africa ready to serve the world’s most demanding market
South Africa is gearing up for a new citrus season. “We are entering the 25th year of shipping citrus to the United States,” says Suhanra Conradie with Summer Citrus from South Africa (SCSA).

Ecuador: Banana exports down at the beginning of the year
From January to February 2023, exports amounted to 66.8 million cartons. This is 0.47% less than in the same period last year. In terms of destination, 32% was destined for the European Union

"With our plastic containers, we can flexibly respond to different requirements and requests"
Resource-saving and sustainable reusable packaging solutions are more in demand than ever. According to Michaël Cibois of Gamma Wopla/Smart Flow, many companies were accordingly looking for

Downgrade of New Zealand’s apple and pear estimates in wake of cyclone
The cyclone that hit New Zealand’s North Island in mid-February wreaked such damage that apple and pear crop estimates have been revised downwards by over 20%. The New Zealand pipfruit crop is

South Africa's week 10 grape intake 92% lower than last season
Rain in the late regions of South Africa led to a 92% decrease in year on year n ational inspection volumes for week 10 with a total of 302 536 cartons (4,5 kg equivalent). This is 92% less than

Kenya might face low earnings as drought could affect 40 percent of avocado crop
Kenya’s horticulture sector is facing low earnings this year from avocado exports as 40 percent of the fruits have been affected by the ongoing drought even as the export market opens next week.

NZ pipfruit forecast revised after Cyclone Gabrielle
The forecast for the New Zealand apple and pear crop has been revised downward following the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle, which hit parts of the East Coast of the North Island in mid-February.

NZ pipfruit forecast revised after Cyclone Gabrielle
The forecast for the New Zealand apple and pear crop has been revised downward following the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle, which hit parts of the East Coast of the North Island in mid-February.

Moderate growth forecast for Southern African citrus
Southern Africa’s citrus industry has issued its first export forecast of the year, with only a few varieties expected to show moderate increases compared to last year’s export volumes. The

South African 2023 citrus export season reflects continued challenging operating environment
Ahead of the Southern African 2023 citrus export season kicking off next month, citrus growing varietal focus groups presented their predicted export volumes for the upcoming season at the Citrus