© Paragon AgriAs the last pomegranates are packed and the handful of Boland pomegranate packhouses switch over to citrus, the shipping season continues until approximately July. It might be a longer season this year due to the severe freeze experienced in regions of Türkiye.
The South African export season started uncommonly swiftly, recounts Christo Nortjé. He farms wine grapes and pomegranates on Blydeverwacht Farm, close to Wellington in the Western Cape.
This year, unusually, they started off the season with air freight at the request of mostly UK clients who needed to quickly fill their gap in their pomegranate supply. Pomegranates remain a strong-growing preference amongst health-conscious consumers.
As the season progressed, they switched to sea freight and found that the port of Cape Town ran smoother than the industry has come to expect of it over the past couple of years.
Even though some fruit is sold locally, the bulk of the crop is exported by Star South Fruits; 80% to buyers in the UK, the rest to Africa, the European Union, and the Middle East. With the high demand for arils, pomegranates supplied to processors remain an important market for South African fruit. To extend the supply period, packed cartons will remain in cold storage locally until requested by clients since storage costs in South Africa are lower than in the United Kingdom.
© Star South
The 2025 pomegranate crop was slightly smaller than the previous year but a definite improvement on the last two years in quality, appearance, and packouts, he says.
Nortjé is also a nurseryman, and the farm will expand their pomegranate orchards this year and diversify the farming operations with the further addition of fig orchards soon to be planted on Blydeverwacht, which would also be primarily for the UK market.
For more information:
Christo Nortjé
Paragon Agri Blydeverwacht Farm
Email: info@paragonagri.co.za