South African cherries are in the final stages of securing approval for exporting to China
Add Fresh Fruit Portal to GoogleThe export of South African cherries to China has entered the final approval stage and is expected to be finalized before the end of the year. In conversation with Reuters, the country’s Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp said his office is still waiting for confirmation from Beijing that all phytosanitary protocols and requirements have been met.
South African cherry production accounts for only 0.2 percent of global cherry production, meaning growers face little competition in scale, but they can gain an advantage in market timing.
"If we can get there early, we'd say September, early October, that creates the opportunity for us to get there before the Chilean cherries," said Karien Bezuidenhout, manager of alternative crops at the country's deciduous fruit farming association, Hortgro, to news agency Reuters.
South African cherries bet on China
China is the world’s leading cherry buyer, importing nearly 600,000 metric tons of the fruit mainly from Chile and Argentina. Leveraging their early harvest window may open profitable opportunities for African growers, leaving them with a piece of the massive cherry market pie.
Gert Eastes, head of Ridge Cherry Farms in South Africa, said that preparations for exporting cherries to China began 12 years ago. With China's zero-tariff policy on the country's agricultural products and the opening of the Chinese cherry market, years of hard work are about to pay off.
Ridge Cherry Farms currently produces only 600 tons of cherries, with a target of 2,000 tons. It is ready to export cherries to China at any time.
"If we can send 1,000 tons in October to China, that changes our business model and ... the opportunities we have to grow the business," Eastes told Reuters.
*All images are referential via Shutterstock.
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