• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
The Mooketsi Pack House in Limpopo is already one of the largest post-harvest avocado handling facilities in the world. Photo: Supplied/ZZ2

Limpopo celebrates new world-class avocado packhouse

27th Jul 2021
What to look for when formulating dairy cow rations

What to look for when formulating dairy cow rations

1st Jul 2022
Leave your comfort zone and make money, says foodie

Leave your comfort zone and start hustling, says foodie

1st Jul 2022
Recipe: Make Makile’s crispy chicken wings

Recipe: Make Makile’s crispy chicken wings

1st Jul 2022
Experts have warned farmers to prepare for another steep fuel price increase this month. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Caught in a price spiral: Farmers brace for major losses

1st Jul 2022
Parts of the Western Cape, such as the Central Karoo, are still experiencing drought. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Drought-burdened farmers receive R48m. in fodder

1st Jul 2022
Through his company, Iboyana agri farming, Mhlengi Ngcobo is changing the lives of youth and women in his community. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Self-taught farmer doing his bit for the greater good

30th Jun 2022
Research has revealed that less than three in 10 farmers in the upper parts of Africa use technology. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Technology not a priority for Africa’s smallholder farmers

30th Jun 2022
The Mamahlola Communal Property Association was among the first to be established in 2000, but due to underinvestment, their land soon turned into a symbol of government’s land restoration failure. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

The poverty-fighting tool that’s not fighting poverty

30th Jun 2022
Langeberg & Ashton Foods provides employment for around 250 permanent and 4 300 seasonal staff. Photo: Supplied

ICYMI: Search for fruit factory buyer continues

30th Jun 2022
Michele Carelse, founder, and CEO of Feelgood Health, Aquaponics horticulturalist, PJ Phiri Gwengo, Dr Didi Claassen, Afrivets executive for technical and marketing support, and Sibusiso Xaba, co-founder and CEO of Africa Cannabis Advisory Group. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Podcast: Learn the basics of growing microgreens

29th Jun 2022
John Deere Launches Africa’s Largest Capacity Combine. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Get inside Africa’s largest combine harvester

30th Jun 2022
Food scraps and yard waste together currently make up more than 30% of what we throw away, and could be composted instead. Babalwa Mpayipheli uses the technique of bokashi composting. Photo: Supplird/Health For Mzansi

How to make compost with kitchen scraps

29th Jun 2022
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
11 GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS
Sat, Jul 2, 2022
Food For Mzansi
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
    • All
    • AgriCareers
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Farmers
    • Groundbreakers
    • Innovators
    • Inspiration
    • It Takes a Village
    • Mentors
    • Movers and Shakers
    • Partnerships
    Through his company, Iboyana agri farming, Mhlengi Ngcobo is changing the lives of youth and women in his community. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Self-taught farmer doing his bit for the greater good

    Reggie Kambule from Villiers in the Free State runs a 185 hectare farm where he breeds livestock and cultivates maize. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Engineer-turned farmer takes pride in good results

    Agripreneur 101: Sweet success for jam producer

    Agripreneur 101: Sweet success for jam producer

    Real Housewife turns passion for wine into a business

    Real Housewife turns passion for wine into a business

    David Mthombeni is building an agriculture empire for his family.Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Farmer gets his hands dirty while building family empire

    Gauteng farmers give youth a leg-up in agriculture

    Women in farming give youth a leg up in agriculture

    Watch out, these young farmers are on fire!

    Watch out, these young farmers are on fire!

    Unati Speirs has vast experience in agri-business strategy and business funding and was recently appointed as a new board director for Hortgro. Photos: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Youngest Hortgro hotshot takes transformation to heart

    Prof Kennedy Mnisi a dedicated young man who wants to help livestock farmers with animal health education to prevent diseases. Picture. Supplied/ Food For Mzansi.

    Animal scientist works hard to earn top dog status

  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
No Result
View All Result
Food For Mzansi

Limpopo celebrates new world-class avocado packhouse

by Duncan Masiwa
27th Jul 2021
in News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
The Mooketsi Pack House in Limpopo is already one of the largest post-harvest avocado handling facilities in the world. Photo: Supplied/ZZ2

The Mooketsi Pack House in Limpopo is already one of the largest post-harvest avocado handling facilities in the world. Photo: Supplied/ZZ2

Limpopo will soon be home to one of the world’s largest avocado handling facilities. The world-class packhouse, set to benefit all avocado growers, will also address major challenges in one of Mzansi’s poorest provinces.

The 11 200 square meter Mooketsi Pack House will be used to pack avocados and tomatoes for ZZ2, one of the largest farming businesses in South Africa. The first batch of avocados are expected to be packed and shipped in February 2022.

Limpopo packhouse celebrated: Ian van Brouwershaven, ZZ2 engineer and project manager. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
Ian van Brouwershaven, ZZ2 engineer and project manager. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

According to Ian van Brouwershaven, ZZ2 engineer and project manager, the Mooketsi Pack House in Tzaneen will not only create employment opportunities and benefit growers, but also address key industry challenges.

ADVERTISEMENT

The facility, he says, will furthermore help to unlock the potential of avocado growers in the province to expand plantings to 3 500 hectares which, in turn, will create thousands of jobs.

“We estimate the new packhouse will create in the region of 5 000 jobs primarily as the result of increased plantings in the Tzaneen area and surrounds,” Van Brouwershaven tells Food For Mzansi.

All growers to benefit

Operation of the facility is expected to be phased in as production in Limpopo expands. The packhouse hopes to eventually handle 70 000 tonnes per year.

Van Brouwershaven states that the facility will benefit all avocado growers, regardless of their scale.

“They will have access to a state-of-the-art facility that employs the best cooling and packing techniques for avocados. The packhouse has been designed to minimise the handling of the avocados so that they arrive at their destination in the best possible quality,” he explains.

According to Van Brouwershaven, what sets the Limpopo packing facility apart from others, both locally and internationally, is that it has been designed to follow ZZ2’s philosophy of nature-friendly farming.

Water will be recycled, where possible, and waste water will go through a filtration process so that it can be used for irrigation.

“[Also,] the design allows for the use of natural light and the roof is built to accommodate solar panels to assist with the generation of electricity.

“The packing equipment features scanning technology that automatically sorts produce according to class, size and colour,” Van Brouwershaven reveals.

Improved shelf-life

Meanwhile, the packhouse’s ability to get through huge volumes of avocados in the shortest possible time, is projected to be a huge benefit to the industry.

ADVERTISEMENT

“With the capacity to pack at 60 tonnes an hour means that there will be no build-up of stock or stock waiting before it can go into the cold rooms,” Van Brouwershaven says.

Apart from packing for ZZ2, the facility will also service the strategic partnership between ZZ2, Mission Produce and Core, to provide access to world-class packing facilities and new markets for other avocado producers in Limpopo.

Since ZZ2 is also the biggest tomato producer in the country, it is reported that the pack line has been designed to accommodate tomatoes during the off season. The pack house’s advanced cooling systems promises to contribute to improved tomato quality and shelf-life. 

ALSO READ: Limpopo farmer channels the passions of his renegade ancestors

Tags: Ian BrouwershavenLimpopo avocado growersLimpopo farmersSouth Africa avocadoZZ2
Previous Post

Mokopane farmers survive brutal panga attack

Next Post

New farmer: It’s never too late to follow your dream

Duncan Masiwa

Duncan Masiwa

DUNCAN MASIWA is a budding journalist with a passion for telling great agricultural stories. He hails from Macassar, close to Somerset West in the Western Cape, where he first started writing for the Helderberg Gazette community newspaper. Besides making a name for himself as a columnist, he is also an avid poet who has shared stages with artists like Mahalia Buchanan, Charisma Hanekam, Jesse Jordan and Motlatsi Mofatse.

Related Posts

Started from the bottom, now Dibesho’s on top!

Started from the bottom, now Dibesho’s on top!

by Tiisetso Manoko
8th Apr 2022
0

He might be a qualified industrial engineer, but Dibesho Serage knows his stuff when it comes to deciduous fruit farming....

Every two weeks, Kolobe Lebepe trades his army uniform for his grubby work suit on his farm in Limpopo’s Moletši Ga-Komape village. Photo: Manare Matabola/Food For Mzansi

Kolobe defends and feeds his fellow countrymen

by Manare Matabola
5th Apr 2022
0

This member of the South African Army Engineer Formation leads a double life. He also farms with tomatoes and watermelons...

Leshalagae Mojapelo farms with butternuts and watermelons in Ga-Maboi village in Limpopo. Photos: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Quality opens doors, says young Limpopo farmer

by Tiisetso Manoko
30th Mar 2022
0

“Farming is a slow process. It is about passion, patience and determination.” Limpopo farmer and soil science graduate Leshalagae Mojapelo...

Crop farmers: Preliminary area plantings data for 2021/22 summer crops to be released this week. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

ICYMI: Rains, price hikes spell ‘costly’ year for farmers

by Duncan Masiwa
25th Jan 2022
0

Crop farmers were optimistically expecting to lift area plantings of summer crops by 3% this year, but environmental and economic...

Next Post
new farmer Corteva

New farmer: It's never too late to follow your dream

Experts have warned farmers to prepare for another steep fuel price increase this month. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
News

Caught in a price spiral: Farmers brace for major losses

by Tiisetso Manoko
1st Jul 2022
0

Farmers are bracing themselves for yet another steep fuel price increase in July, with data showing that consumers could face...

Read more
Parts of the Western Cape, such as the Central Karoo, are still experiencing drought. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Drought-burdened farmers receive R48m. in fodder

1st Jul 2022
Through his company, Iboyana agri farming, Mhlengi Ngcobo is changing the lives of youth and women in his community. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Self-taught farmer doing his bit for the greater good

30th Jun 2022
Research has revealed that less than three in 10 farmers in the upper parts of Africa use technology. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Technology not a priority for Africa’s smallholder farmers

30th Jun 2022
The Mamahlola Communal Property Association was among the first to be established in 2000, but due to underinvestment, their land soon turned into a symbol of government’s land restoration failure. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

The poverty-fighting tool that’s not fighting poverty

30th Jun 2022

What to look for when formulating dairy cow rations

Caught in a price spiral: Farmers brace for major losses

Engineer-turned farmer takes pride in good results

‘Inhumane farmworker transport must stop’

Beef up your understanding of SA’s red meat industry

How to make compost with kitchen scraps

THE NEW FACE OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

With 11 global awards in the first three years of its existence, Food For Mzansi is much more than an agriculture publication. It is a movement, unashamedly saluting the unsung heroes of South African agriculture. We believe in the power of agriculture to promote nation building and social cohesion by telling stories that are often overlooked by broader society.

What to look for when formulating dairy cow rations

Leave your comfort zone and start hustling, says foodie

Recipe: Make Makile’s crispy chicken wings

Caught in a price spiral: Farmers brace for major losses

Drought-burdened farmers receive R48m. in fodder

Self-taught farmer doing his bit for the greater good

  • Our Story
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright

Contact us
Office: +27 21 879 1824
WhatsApp line: +27 81 889 9032
Marketing: +27 71 147 0388
News: info@foodformzansi.co.za
Advertising: sales@foodformzansi.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought

Copyright © 2021 Food for Mzansi

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version