In South Africa, the weather has been hot and dry, resulting in slightly smaller fruit, says Tom Cowan of DNE World Fruit Sales, Fort Pierce, Fla. But the warm weather helps raise the sweetness level.
Optimal growing conditions have provided good internal and external fruit quality, adds Suhanra Conradie, CEO of Summer Citrus from South Africa. Easy peelers are available from mid-May through September, navel oranges from June through September, midknight oranges from the end of September through October, cara cara oranges from July through mid-August and star ruby grapefruit from mid-June through mid-September, she says.
South African export volume has grown 25% in the past five years, Conradie says. “Consumers are becoming more and more familiar with the quality of the South African fruit they can find from June to October,” she says.
DNE's South African citrus line will consist of clementines, mandarins, navels, midknight oranges and cara cara oranges, Cowan says.
“We are expecting the South African clementine and navel volumes to be up from last season, and the cara cara and mandarin volumes will be close to last year,” he says. The midknight volume will depend on the startup of the new California navels in the fall.
Capespan North America imports several kinds of citrus items, but Marier seems especially excited about the company's South African grapefruit. “I do believe it's the best grapefruit out there that's available in the summertime,” he says. “It seems like a lot of chains are agreeing with us.”
The product got off to a slow start several years ago but has now almost reached the point where “we'll have to put the brakes on,” he says.
“It keeps growing and growing.”