South African table grape campaign starts late, slight increase in exports expected

The 2024-2025 South African table grape season is now underway. Growers are expecting good quality fruit and export volumes are forecast to increase by 1% compared to last season, thanks to the entry of new varieties into production. Fruit Portal spoke to Denene Erasmus, Marketing Development and Communications Officer for the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI), who said that all indications are that it will be a normal season and that South Africa remains well positioned to supply the market with quality table grapes. "The national crop estimate is forecast at 76.4 million cartons, with an upper limit of approximately 78.7 million and a lower limit of approximately 74.1 million," Erasmus said. "This figure represents a 6% increase over five-year average volumes, putting South Africa in a good position to supply global markets with sufficient quality product," she added. In the week ending 6 December, SATI reported that 4.32 million cartons for export were inspected up to ...