During his recent visit to Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong all conversations around kiwis were very positive, remarks Roelof du Toit, technical manager at The Kiwi Connection which holds the exclusive license for the Dori variety in South Africa, and also exports Skelton and Soreli yellow kiwis.
The recent floods in the Western Cape didn’t damage kiwi orchards in George, Southern Cape. In Grabouw kiwi orchards were worse affected but they’ll survive, Roelof says. They are very relieved; it was a very rough couple of days in the Cape.
“It’s still really early in the season but we’re expecting higher yields and better sizes than last season,” he says. “Last year we exported around 100 tonnes of our first Dori kiwis to Europe and other markets. This year we aim for a doubling of that.”
This season they’re excited to announce that they will have commercial volumes of red kiwifruit available for export. They’re still laying out a marketing plan for their red kiwis, and The Kiwi Connection is attending Fruit Attraction in Madrid at the moment.
Their first kiwis will be available from week 7 next year, kicking off with Skelton from Nelspruit in the Mpumalanga Lowveld, starting late February next year, then followed by early areas in KwaZulu-Natal and Magoebaskloof in Limpopo Province.
Kiwis from the Western Cape, Southern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal take the season through to the start of April.
The Kiwi Connection intends to offer the whole colour spectrum of kiwi varieties.
Trials are underway across various growing locations in the country to find a replacement for green Hayward with higher tonnages and sugar (conclusive results should be available in two to three years).
Their aim is a thousand hectares of new generation kiwi varieties in ten years’ time.
“The last two years fewer hectares were planted as a result of the weak economy, but I’d say when we get to 200ha of kiwis with high production and good quality for exclusive marketing, then we’re gaining momentum.”
For more information:
Roelof du Toit
The Kiwi Connection
Email: [email protected]