Poor Local fruit quality due to good exporting prices…
According to a recent article in FruitPlaza, the supply of fruit to our local market in South Africa from its local growers are having a detrimental effect due to good exports prices of fresh produce, especially oranges.
“A procurement manager for one of the main retailers in South Africa said that despite opening accounts with all major citrus producers over the last few years, he still can’t get top quality oranges, in fact they have had no Class 1 Navels or Valencia’s for the last eight years.”
South Africa is a big exporting country and because producers try to export 60% of their produce, low local supply is not only limited to oranges.
Although the South African consumer, as many around the world, is leaning towards healthy products, they do not want to pay the price growers are getting for superior quality on the overseas markets.
We need to consider the farmer’s expenses as well, keeping in mind that all producers are also running a business and want to capitalize, thus making exporting a much more valuable and profitable solution. With high quality fruits, come expensive pre and post harvesting methods.
Growers are getting excellent exporting prices due to the markets being supported by health conscious consumers willing to pay a bit extra for good fresh, quality and healthy produce, where we as South Africans tend to undervalue the quality of fresh produce.
I am of opinion that all consumers are to pay more for fresh produce, especially if you compare the current prices of fresh produce to a bar of chocolate and other processed foods.