Following their two-day symposium, Berries South Africa is positive that collaborations and investment on proper infrastructure will ensure that the industry succeed despite the geopolitical tensions across the world.
Food For Mzansi caught up with Brent Walsh, chief executive officer of Berries South Africa, on the sideline of the symposium that took place in Paarl, Western Cape. He shares their plans to navigate the storms and the support offered to the growers.
Tiisetso Manoko: Could you paint a picture for us of the state of the berry industry in the country?
Brent Walsh: It is always a challenge for the industry with pests and diseases, which need risk management on orchards and access to the sprays that we are allowed to use in managing the orchards, so those are some of the challenges we have.
However, on the positive side, we are recognised as a high-quality berries-producing nation and our exports are very well received by our markets. We are expecting to continue with that trend. As for this year, the production seems to be on line for a forecast of around 25 000 tons of export, and how the season goes is determined by whether berries sales go up or down.
How important are public-private partnerships and collaborations for the berry industry?
When it comes to the whole value chain, there are specific questions and issues to be addressed. When it comes to logistics and what can be done in the short term to ensure the exports of our produce get delivered.
The biggest challenge for us is to get the berries into a vessel for sea freight as quickly as possible and to their destinations on time. They are highly perishable products; it is extremely important for us to get the logistics movement very fast. We are seeing improvement [but] we have a long way to go.
There are a lot of opportunities for public-private partnership participation but I think we will continue to push Transnet on making those changes and allow us an opportunity to work with them with a key focus on changing our logistics status.
What will be Berries South Africa expect from the new government considering the challenges the commodity is facing?
We certainly hope that the progress we have made in the last six to nine months, especially on the logistics side, will continue the trend. From our side we will continue to work with whoever the relevant authority will be. Ours will be to paint a picture of an effective and efficient logistics and how it can make the industry and the economy thrive.
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What are some of the key focus areas of the symposium?
This is our annual opportunity to engage with members of Berries South Africa, primarily our growers and associate members who are packhouses and all the role players.
So it is important to get everybody under one roof and share industry-wide information that is relevant to the industry and keeping our industry healthy and growing.
What is your message to the industry role players?
My message will be that we are not alone. Each country has its own challenges and as Berries South Africa, we are here as a soundboard and information provider, as engagement partner, as growers across the country.
We also want to say we are here to facilitate and fast-track the export process as soon as possible. So we just have to use our best practice channels, best methodologies, and ensure we continue to produce the best quality berries in South Africa because that is the expectations of our receiving market. We are expecting the industry to continue growing.
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