Witzenberg’s Alhambra Estate honoured for outstanding harvest

Alhambra Estate, one of the flagship apple and pear estates in the Witzenberg Properties stable, excelled by winning the chairman’s trophy for the best general performance of 2025 at Ceres Fruit Growers’ 42nd prestigious annual harvest awards held recently.

While this marks the eleventh time Witzenberg Properties has lifted the chairman’s trophy, it is only the second time that Alhambra has achieved this honour (under the auspices of Witzenberg Properties).

In congratulating the team, Pieter Graaff, proprietor of Witzenberg Properties, emphasised that reaching this milestone was the result of an exceptional collective effort.

“It takes years to build a farm to a certain standard. We acquired Alhambra about seventeen years ago and replanted every orchard, ensuring that the estate could realise its full potential,” he said.

Favourable markets and prices

Herman Botha, estate manager at Alhambra, attributes the apple, pear, cherry, and wine grape farm’s success to its unique location and climate on the slopes of the Matroosberg mountains in the Western Cape.

“During the 2025 season, we had enough water, a good winter with sufficient chill units, and a great growing season. Although it was a big crop, we were fortunate that everything ripened on time, avoiding bottlenecks during the harvest,” Botha said.

He also applauded the management and agri-workers at Alhambra for their dedication.

“We believe in doing everything timely and correctly, whether it is applying fertiliser, irrigation, or harvesting. We have an excellent team, and everyone who works here loves the farm and knows we all work together toward the same goal,” Botha said.

Tommie Prins, production director at Witzenberg Properties, said the past production season was excellent in terms of both yield and quality. The markets and prices were also favourable.

“It requires hard work and commitment, but I am incredibly proud of Witzenberg Properties’ management team, as I know how much effort they put into the orchards.

“Every year, we aim to increase the amount of class 1 fruit on the tree by doing the basics right, but also through practices such as pruning, thinning, and the use of nets. When establishing new orchards, we plant new and improved varieties on modern rootstocks to further strengthen and enhance fruit quality,” Prins said.

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Excellent year for Ceres

Frederick Odendaal, manager of producer services at Ceres Fruit Growers, described the 2025 season as “blessed”.

“It was one of the best seasons for apples and pears yet in the Ceres area. With over 13 270 tonnes of Forelle pears packed at Ceres Fruit Growers as well as outstanding colour development of Pink Lady and Mahana Red, our producers’ performances were absolutely outstanding,” he said.

Roelf Pienaar, managing director of Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing, the marketing and distribution arm of Ceres Fruit Growers, congratulated the producers on their exceptional achievements at this year’s harvest awards.

“Winning these respected awards is a testament to the consistent excellence delivered by our growers. Their accomplishments reflect exceptional orchard management and a relentless commitment to growing world-class apples and pears.

“Your hard work underpins the quality that Tru-Cape takes to consumers around the globe, and we salute every team that contributed to this year’s outstanding results,” Pienaar said.