Namibia has exported 6.5 million cartons of seedless grapes this season, representing a marked improvement on the 5.3m last year.
“The season has gone very well and there is a new confidence among all growers about the future,” says Andre Vermaak of Silverland Farms. “Buyers who visited ahead of the season have seen the growth in new varieties and they share our excitement about the future.”
So far half the Namibian crop has been sold in a reasonably empty market. “With the crop in the Orange River lighter than expected, and the traditional early market supply being lighter, we are experiencing a strong market,” Vermaak adds.
In general terms, Namibian grape production is on an upward curve as a result of the removal of old vineyards and big investments in new varieties. At Silverlands most of the Red Globe has been removed and although the vineyards in production have declined, more grapes were packed this season. Other major exporters from the region, such as Grape Alliance and Capespan Namibia, have all reported increased plantings which will boost future growth.
It is still being predicted that the Namibian crop will reach 10m cartons by 2020.
Silverland Vineyards is one of the companies now seeing increasing volumes of the new IFG and Arra varieties coming forward. The IFG varieties Cotton Candy and Candy Heart were snapped up by South African supermarkets but there are expectations that volumes will increase to such an extent during the next few years that they will also become strongly represented in the export portfolio.
“We are also excited about Arra 14, a large-berried black variety, which we will export to the Far East markets this year,” says Vermaak. In order to deliver its grapes as fresh as possible, Silverlands packed all of them in the vineyard this year. “This was an exciting experiment and we are generally pleased with the results. So far all consignments arrived well in Europe and the UK and we expect this to continue during the next three weeks.”
Capespan Namibia’s executive director Kobus Bothma also predicted a bumper crop before the season and said that more of the new varieties Sweet Celebration, Melody and Arra 15 would be exported.
It is expected that the Namibian grapes will be cleared within the next three to four weeks due to strong demand. Apart from having a good crop, logistically, in the port of Cape Town, this was not that easy. High winds delayed a number of vessels, which also affected the other South African crops. This, along with the lower South African crop, means that the market should remain strong for some time to come. Higher supplies to Europe are quite possible, because the weakening of the British currency is turning some exporters away.
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