CAPE TOWN: The South African fig export industry is expanding with domestic demand also showing improvement. Average yields in the Western Cape as well as in the Northwest Province are 3-4 ton per hectare.
The South African export firm moving the largest volumes of figs is Star South, which exported 450t of figs last year (60% to the UK and the balance to the EU, Canada, Middle and Far East). According to Danel van Deventer, logistics manager for figs at Star South, last year they marketed a further 100t as fresh fruit locally and 10t for processing, such as fig preserve (very popular in South Africa) and drying. A lot of the fruit is sold at roadside farm stalls and farmer’s markets in the Western Cape and therefore the volume consumed locally is unknown.
The South African fig harvest is currently a third to halfway through. Ronde de Bordeaux is harvested from week 52 to week 8 while the Bourjassotte Noire (Evita/Parisian) harvest started about a month ago and extends to weeks 18 to 20.
The United Kingdom is the traditional export market for South African fruit growers, and feedback that Star South has received from UK fig marketers is that figs are one of the very few commodities still growing in the British market; because a fig is so versatile in sweet as well as savory dishes. Star South’s Van Deventer confirms that there is a definite increase in the volumes exported to all markets.
