The first exports of the Southern African table grape season this year were scheduled to depart the port of Cape Town last weekend. Early table grape types are already being harvested in Namibia. The Orange River is predicted to start flowing this week in the northern part of South Africa, and it will take roughly ten days for it to do so.

According to sources, Namibia anticipates exporting around the same amount as the previous year, with early signs of a high-quality harvest. The Early Sweet variety will be the main focus of the early packaging. Namibia exported almost 10.5 million cartons overall last year. In contrast, the crop in South Africa is projected to be roughly 73.0 million cartons (or 4.5 kg equivalent).

Early in the campaign, a lot of attention will be paid to the new types that Namibian growers have recently planted.

According to Fruitnet, Jenifer Sanchez, vice president of marketing at Sun World, the company has agreements with a number of Namibian producers to test, cultivate, and distribute a number of the breeder’s types there.

Among them is Sugrathirtyfive, also known as AutumnCrisp, which is in great demand from retailers and customers all over the world. Sanchez stated, “In addition to these plantings, Sun World will be testing a number of promising early red seedless pipeline varieties, such as the Sugrafiftythree variety, which was recently introduced in the Ruby Rush brand.”

This year, the nation should also see new developments in the Arra breeding program. TopFruit, a renowned cultivar management organization in charge of promoting Arra varietals throughout Southern Africa, stated, “There are reports of a good season ahead with the imminent start of the table grape season in Southern Africa.”

Table grape manager at TopFruit AJ Jansen van Vuuren stated, “Growers have long been cautious about the unpredictability of weather patterns in both South Africa and Namibia.” But now that they have the right tools, they can significantly reduce this danger. Recently introduced Arra cultivators can rest easy knowing that future climate events are unpredictable.

Europe will be anxiously awaiting the first arrivals from Southern Africa, which are scheduled to arrive two weeks after shipment from Cape Town. Owing to recent global weather occurrences, a robust market is anticipated.