The shipment of the first South African grapes to Japan earlier this season had a sequel in Cape Town this week, when the growers of those grapes handed a donation to the Japanese Consul General to assist with disaster relief work in Japan.
In a case of making the news as well as breaking it, the generous donation from Stephanus and Franscois Rossouw, of Mooigezicht Estate in the Hex Valley, was in fact at the suggestion of Fruitnet.com’s South African correspondent Fred Meintjes.
“We followed your suggestion,” Stephanus Rossouw told Mr Meintjes. “Our first shipment was successful and we visited the Japanese Consulate to hand a cheque for US$10,000 to the Consul-General to aid the relief operation in Japan. We also conveyed our appreciation to the Japanese ambassador and the Japanese authorities who contributed to this first shipment.”
The South African industry is hoping that the Japanese authorities will soon extend the protocol for South African table grape imports to other varieties. The 25-year battle by South African grape growers to get access to Japan is now one of those legendary stories of efforts to break down international trade barriers in fresh produce. So far Japan has only granted access to the Barlinka variety, considered in the industry to be ‘yesterday’s grape’, and not representative of the best varieties that South Africa can offer Japanese consumers.
In handing over the donation to Yumiko Fujiwari, Japan’s Consul General in Cape Town, Mr Rossouw himself did not display much faith in the future of Barlinka.
“We would much rather like to offer the new generation green, red and black table grape cultivars that we send to other markets to Japanese consumers. When we get access for these varieties, we will cut down all the Barlinka vines,” he stated.
True to the long struggle to get South African grapes into Japan, the journey of the first container of Barlinka was also a sea voyage of epic proportions. After a final and very thorough assessment by a Japanese inspector who specially visited South Africa for the purpose, the grapes arrived in Tokyo in early May after a 12-day sterilisation programme and almost four weeks at sea.
Whilst is was a moment of great significance, the South African industry believes that their grape programme in Japan will not make much progress until varieties such as Crimson Seedless, Autumn Royal, Midknight Beauty, Starlight, Sugraone and Scarlotta Seedless can be shipped to the market.
Of more significance for the South African industry than the shipment of this first container is the accelerating commitment of South African grape suppliers to market more of their fruit in the Far East region this year.
Despite a significantly smaller South African table grape crop this season, exports to the Far East region increased dramatically, while volumes to the UK and Europe showed a significant decline.
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