With a good table grape crop predicted in South Africa and Namibia, there are also hopes for positive marketing conditions
South Africa’s prospects for the upcoming table grape season look more promising than the same time last year.
The industry has already announced that is preparing for an earlier start to the export season, with the first estimate for 2026/27 indicating a stable crop of sufficient volume to meet market demand.
The preliminary national crop estimate for 2026/2027 of 78.4mn cartons inspected for export has a lower range of 76.8mn cartons and an upper range of about 79.9mn cartons.
This is lower than the export figure of 81.3mn cartons achieved last year.
“The continuous heat and higher temperatures than normal in Southern Europe are causing a quicker end to the EU Grape crop, resulting potentially in less stock in the European Union, South Africa biggest market, arriving from Southern Europe during November and December,” said Sarel Joubert, CEO of In2Fruit and one of the country’s most experienced table grape exporters.
The early grape region of Peru also reported an early season, but in that case, it is estimated that the early crop could be down by around 25 per cent at this stage of planning.
“The Californian crop also ended earlier causing earlier and more volumes from Peru to be shipped to the USA and therefore potentially less to Europe for the November/December period,” he continued.
”Brazil meanwhile is also enjoying a continued strong local market, but with the Mercosur agreement in place Brazil can now export free of duties to the EU which could be a potential gamechanger.”
Joubert highlighted how effective logistics from South Africa is also key in supplying the EU and UK markets effectively this season.
“If the logistics go according to plan this will assist in a more stable market in the EU, UK and other global markets.”
Plans are in place to be more effective in logistics this year by shipping bigger volumes through Walvis Bay in Namibia, as well as more shipments directly from pack houses via the ports on the South African east coast.
“These plans will obviously reduce pressure on the port of Cape Town, where we expect better productivity due to some upgrades,” he confirmed.
”There will also be the opportunity to use conventional vessels in the peak period to compliment the container lines.
“So, the start of the season and sales in December to mid-January appear to be more favourable than the previous season if South Africa is able have more effective logistics system than in the past,” he added.
