Following last year’s devastating hailstorms in South Africa's Ceres region, apple growers have confirmed their belief that the sector will take a long time to recover, while in Europe major retailers are said to be concerned about a possible shortage of South African apples this season.
Gys du Toit, production managing director at leading grower Dutoit Agri, said he feared the damage would slow down efforts to bring greater volumes of exclusive and unique new varieties to market.
“We are busy with on-going assessments and decisions on how to deal with the cards we have been dealt,” he told Eurofruit. “I do not believe the losses will be less than R500m and some people think it could reach R1bn.”
Reports indicate that, in some cases, whole packhouses have been shut down for the entire season, with growers cutting their losses and hoping they will be able to recover something from the processing industry.
“One result of the damage will be that the local South African market will receive much more fruit this season,” suggested Phillippetri Fourie of Goede Hoop Marketing.
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