Alastair Moodie, who transformed his family’s fruit business into one of South Africa’s leading operations and played a key role in guiding the industry through deregulation, has died after a short illness
South Africa’s Moodie fruit family has announced the passing of industry leader Alastair Moodie.
Moodie passed away after a short illness and will be honoured at a memorial service on 12 December.
He took over the Melsetter fruit business, based mainly on the iconic apple and pear farms Graymead and Eikenhof, from his father, Doug Moodie in the 1980s, steering the group to its position as one of the leading fruit growing businesses in South Africa, with connections to production and marketing entities around the world.
During the 1980s and 90s, Moodie played a key role as director of Unifruco. He helped to guide the industry through the isolation years and towards a new period of expansion as it prepared for the deregulated system.
During that time, he also expanded the group’s production in Vyeboom and Elgin.
After deregulation, Moodie founded exporter Fruitways and later consolidated all the Moodie family interests under the Fruitways Group.
The group also expanded its state-of-the-art cold store and packing facilities on its farms across the Elgin-Vyeboom regions, including the historic Molteno Farms in the heart of the Elgin Valley.
When he retired, his son, Chris Moodie, became chairman of the company.
Alastair Moodie was a popular South African fruit industry personality, and those who worked with him speak about his empathy for all working on the Moodie farms.
From early on, these farming enterprises were rated among the best in the industry in terms of housing and other services provided to staff.
He also played a huge role in industry structures, providing visionary leadership, and guiding his fellow fruit growers towards best practices to enhance the long-term sustainability of the industry.
Moodie was particularly well-known in British trade circles, as well as with growers in New Zealand and across Europe.
He is survived by his wife Francis and children Catherine, Christopher and Juliette.
