South Africa’s perishable produce industry continued to exceed expectations and managed to move just over 3.5 million tons of fresh produce last year, according to the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB).
Lucien Jansen, CEO at this independent quality certification agency for cold chain producers and exporters of perishable food, said that they continued to see a growth in exports. “We are pleased to note that South Africa achieved record export figures in 2022. Notwithstanding the challenges faced. This represents an 8.8% increase in volumes when compared to 2020/2021 financial year.
The agency said challenges that concerned the movement of fruit and vegetables included congestion at the local ports, which was a long-standing concern. In addition, it said the floods in the latter part of 2022 in the Lower Orange River significantly impacted grape crops.
Source: iol.co.za