P&ON invests R25m to boost avocado exports

03 Dec 1999 - by Staff reporter

150 Everfresh containers to
be delivered next March

THE SOUTH African Avocado Growers Association received an early boost to the forthcoming avocado export season with a multi-million Rand investment in new controlled atmosphere (CA) containers that will be used exclusively for avocado exports from South Africa.
P&O Nedlloyd placed the R25-million order for 150 40 ft EverFresh containers, the first Everfresh container investment in the South African avocado export market.
The order for additional container equipment comes in the wake of an urgent appeal by SAAGA for container liner operators to increase the capacity for avocado exports under controlled atmosphere conditions.
With the strong demand for better quality export products, it is clear that we need to ship our products under the best possible conditions, Chris Keevy, executive director of SAAGA, told FTW.
This year we shipped more than 5,5-million boxes under controlled atmosphere conditions which impacted to a large extent on the quality of the overall export product.
CA has proved to enhance the quality of the fruit and the usable shelf life, without affecting the eating qualities of the product, he explains.
The containers will supplement P&O Nedlloyd's existing fleet of TransFresh compatible containers, and will be locked in to the South African European trade route. We see this as a further commitment to our exporters, as these containers are now exclusive to the selected market and will not be transferred to other trade routes elsewhere in the world where the containers could otherwise be utilised, P & ON's g.m. marketing, Wim Legaay, told FTW.
This way the containers will remain the sole property of the South African exporter, as it will be used for exporting stone fruit from South Africa to Europe once the avocado exports season has passed.
The new CA containers will be equipped with the latest state-of-the-art EverFresh technology that generates and controls atmosphere anywhere without special technical support.
The setpoint control unit on the container records and adjusts gas concentrations inside the box to ensure that oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations stay at the required level for the duration of trip - from the moment that the fruit is boxed and gassed on-site, to discharge at the destination.
The containers are currently being manufactured in Korea, and will be delivered to P&O Nedlloyd in South Africa by early March, in time for the start of the avocado season. The season stretches from March to September, with the peak period between May and August.
Annually, South Africa exports between 50% and 60% (between 30 000 and 50 000 tons) of its avocado produce, of which 95% is destined for European markets. With the new containers in place we can easily push our avocado exports under CA conditions this year to more that 70%, Keevy says.