Helping double national demand.

The 2005 South African strawberry season has had an unusual start, with warm weather conditions being experienced in the north of the country. This has enabled growers situated in the area to have a bumper early crop, which in turn caused demand to soar. This response to the unusual early supply has had a positive impact on the strawberry industry with raised levels of awareness towards quality local berries as opposed to poor quality imported berries.

Growers in the south and south east of the country (Stellenbosch & George), which is, where the Well-Pict European growers are located, have come into the season as the northern growers have started tailing off. Consumer demand has been strong, but the early season supply has meant that supermarket prices haev been much lower than what is normally experiences during the traditional "early period".

The national demand for strawberries in South Africa was believed to be in the region of 7,000 - 10,000 tonnes per annum. The recent influx of new varieties and the development of growing techniques has changed the supply situation significantly. The Gautene region (in the north), which now starts production around April/May continues until September when the temperatures become too hot. The Stellenbosch region, which is just outside Cape Town in the south west tip of the country, begins production during August and continues until December, when likewise temperatures become to warm for any quality production, george stuated in the South East of the country, has a very similar climate to Oxnard in the US, starts late August/September and can potentially continue until March. Using a basket of varieties (and growing methods) such as Tamar, Yael, Dorada, C3, Commitment, Eris, sabrosa and Endurance, production in these different regions should see demand in South Africa exceed the 2,000 tonne level ths season.

Well Pict SA seems set to revolutionise the domestic strawberry market by presenting a consistently superior quality, EurepGAP compliant strawberry brand.

November 2005