In the Northern Cape, on the banks of the Orange River, the grape vineyards are starting to flower at the start of the new grape season, which will commence in week 48 for grower-owned company Pitto. Two weeks later their red and black grapes follow.
The Northern Cape is traditionally strong on early white grapes like Early Sweet, Prime, Sugraone and Thompson Seedless. This year, says marketing manager Christian Strydom, they’re excited to also be offering Sweet Globe.
“At Pitto we focus on quality rather than quantity and consequently we’re known for the flavour of our grapes. Because the internal quality is so good, the shelf life of our grapes is excellent.”
He continues: “Because we pack a wide range of varieties of grapes between our farms at the same time, it enables us to deliver mixed containers upon special request to clients, in other words, white, red and black grapes in various forms of packaging, in a single container.”
The company has keen to enlarge their footprint in the Far East, including China, where their focus is on supermarkets and chain stores. “It’s important to us to know that our product is going to a specific address and not just traded on the open market. We’d like to grow our presence in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, and when South Korea opens to South African grapes, we’ll aim at supplying supermarkets there with white grapes.”
The company has also started looking at marketing their own line of raisins, which is currently in development.
Pitto will be at the South African Pavilion, Hall 5 E02.
For more information:
Christian Strydom
Pitto
Tel: +27 54 431 0302
Email: [email protected]
https://www.pitto.co.za/