Room for growth in the South African avocado sector
Over the last five years, The South African avocado sector harvested approximately 125,000 tons of avocados per annum. The area under commercial avocado orchards stands around 14,700 hectares, with new plantings of about 900 hectares added per annum. The avocado sector contributes to at least 11,500 jobs on farms and packhouses. South Africa expects an uptick in avocado exports this season of 66,000 tons compared to 60,000 tons in the previous season.
This is according to Derek Donkin, CEO of the South African Subtropical Growers’ Association (Subtrop), who presented at PMA South Africa’s live broadcast, in partnership with Beanstalk.Global on 22 April. Leading sector experts who joined the discussion were Trevor Dukes, CEO of The Fruit Farm Group SA (TFFGSA), Lindie Stroebel, Southern Africa Country Manager at Mission Produce (“Mission”), Roger Armitage, Managing Director at Hall Fresh Produce, and Joe Shaw Roberts, Cons
Are online marketplaces the future trading platform for fresh produce?
Selling via online marketplaces offers many advantages for farmers, buyers and sellers. It overcomes time and space constraints, provides inclusive market access, cuts costs, and shortens the supply chain, which is critical within fresh produce and agriculture.
Online marketplace experts Grant Jacobs, CEO of HelloChoice and Louis de Kock, founder of Nile.ag took a deep dive into this topic during a live broadcasted hosted by the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) in partnership with Beanstalk.Global.
Jacobs says anyone who wants to be successful in the 21st century needs to embrace digitisation. “We see varying supply and demand in the agricultural sector, sellers who are largely isolated, and buyers who find it difficult to access products. Online marketplaces are mechanisms that make it easy and cost-effective for sellers and buyers to trade digitally.”