Grant Blanden of Afrupro International moved to Europe during the 2002 South African avocado season to keep a closer eye on the crop when it reached the Old Continent.
He says: "Afrupro is a grower-based organisation, working to the premise that we can shorten the chain between the grower and the end user. Research showed us that 70-80 per cent of the problems that were occurring with avocados were not a result of production issues ñ- they were products of the logistics exercise.
"We decided to take on the logistics ourselves, but we recognised that the capability to do that revolves around volume. You can take advantage of better rates, but you have to be shipping 600,000 plus cartons of fruit to make it viable."
In an up-and-down production cycle, Blanden recognised that the risk was too great, but found an encouraging number of like-minded producers in South Africa. The upshot was the establishment of Afrupro, which counts on producers from Tzaneen and further north all the way down to Durban to provide it with continuity of supply throughout the campaign.
Blanden is now responsible for overseeing the UK and European operations of Afrupro and by doing so overcomes the major stumbling block of lack of feedback to the grower. "Two years ago we began to investigate what was happening further down the chain and found some horrifying things. People were claiming on good fruit, holding on to the fruit for too long on arrival and basically, in a lot of instances, giving it no chance in the market."
Blanden adds: "We had never been in a position to know what condition our fruit was arriving in before, or to know whether we were being told the truth.
"Now, if there is a problem we are able to sort it out more quickly and efficiently. We are getting better information through to the growers, who are able to follow their fruit through to its destination and have more idea of the volumes arriving in the marketplace. Afrupro is made up entirely of growers, producing a variety of crops, avocados being the main product; now they are more flexible and able to be proactive rather than reactive.
"Generally speaking, we have no interest in lining the pockets of middlemen that add no value to the chain ñ and are in fact taking value out of the chain. In my first season here last year, returns increased and we had a marked reduction in rejections.”
For a group of growers attempting to establish themselves, the spot markets of Europe were a less attractive option. "We didn't have a strong presence in the UK, but we knew the programme in advance of the beginning of the season and were able to find reliable buyers as a result. The programmes available in the UK make it a much more stable option than Europe," Blanden says. "The supermarkets can be tough, but they are also very supportive of the suppliers that do the job right."
The multiple sector was not the only avenue, and the need to build a greenskin presence saw Afrupro supply fruit to non-supermarket suppliers such as Poupart and cross-sector operator and avocado specialist Greencell.
"The long-term objective,” says Blanden, “is to establish close relationships and particularly for all parties to understand the needs of the rest of the chain ñ the growers especially.
“Two years ago for instance, no-one understood what EurepGAP was and why it was necessary. Now it is clear. As an industry in South Africa we are united and committed to building the avocado business generically. If everyone is working to the same standards, the quality of fruit and consumption increase will follow."
Even with such tight management, the season cannot always go according to plan. Heavy shipments of Peruvian fruit upset what was a very good season and another vessel-full is expected to hit in week 35.
Afrupro's general manager in South Africa Wiedse Kruger told the Journal this was an unfortunate blip in the middle of an excellent year for Afrupro. “In an off-season, Afrupro has performed very well ñ and I estimate that our share of the South African avocado crop will have risen from 11 per cent to 16 per cent by the end of the season.
“There have been a couple of weeks where the prices were poor, although there was always a good market for top quality avocados. Once the prices drop to e3 and below though, the avocados would be better sent for oil or left on the tree.
“The management system we have in place though is designed to deal with these peaks and troughs and Afrupro growers are seeing the benefit of supplying the market with consistent volumes and quality throughout the season.”
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