... as major export drive
gets underway
THREE SHIPPING containers filled with bananas which left Durban in mid-August as the first export order for containerised bananas from this country are currently on the high seas bound for the United Arab Emirates in what is planned as a major export drive for the fruit grown in Mpumalanga.
The decision to divert the banana trade from the European market has been made by local producers for two reasons - UAE market opportunities and the fact that in an extremely competitive field the fruit is subject to massive subsidies in the European market.
Faced with this situation the SA Banana Growers Association agreed to investigate other options open to member producers and undertook a number of trials which stretched over more than a year before it was decided to accept the call for shipments to Dubai, where markets are much closer and where 'artificial barriers' are not encountered, which is the case in Europe.
Bananas are among the most delicate and sensitive fruits to export, and smaller volumes had previously been airfreighted to European destinations.
Now in a partnership between Coopersdal Farms in Mpumalanga run by the Van Dyk Brothers organisation, and a Cape Town based marketing company, Lona Trading, the first three reefer containers are en route to a client in Dubai, who is acting as an agent for the region. He has made it clear that if the produce arrives in a satisfactory
condition, regular and far
larger volumes will be required, opening up a completely new venture for agriculture exports from South Africa.
