Selling the world's finest summer citrus
Do you see why we say we are selling the world's finest summer citrus?
As we are serving the world’s most demanding market, the U.S., executing a program with excellence is a detailed process and takes an enormous amount of preparation and planning.
We are dependent on the acts of nature and it all starts with having appropriate weather conditions as the product matures and summarizes with the process of preparing the harvest.
In addition to these most important elements, managing supply chain during an on-going global pandemic remains a committed task.
During this video you will notice the beautiful Summer Citrus production area, here in the Western Cape of South Africa, while some of our board members elaborate on the Summer Citrus program and why it is such a successful model of collaboration.
It all starts with growers committed to producing the finest product, allowing market demand to determine all production decisions. In addition, each speaker will walk through Summer Citrus’ main focus, which is to:
- Ensure the easy-flow of all supply-chain elements
- Ensure collective infrastructure for all fruit to the U.S. and logistics, whether it is our dedicated breakbulk vessels or containers
Now as the global supply-chain continues to stay under pressure as a result of challenges associated with the world pandemic, the Summer Citrus model of collaboration can maybe teach the rest of the globe a lesson or two. This is what we have been doing all along, managing supply and demand.
Most of these guys in the video will also tell you how our model of collaboration has supported many individuals from farm to table. They talk about how it has not only created stability and opportunity in terms of the marketplace, but are constantly contributing to the social welfare of many.
We are working on a very informative series of videos for the remainder of the season which we will share in our trade newsletters, focusing on sustainability. This will not only uncover all aspects of sustainable farming that we do here in Citrusdal, but will share what these growers actually do for their communities as well. We refer to it as the HARVEST OF HOPE.
“The dreams of the South African Rainbow Nation are alive and well in the citrus orchards of citrusdal.”
-Nobel Peace Prize Winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Production Update
We were a little slow out of the blocks, but volumes have started to pick up and we are busy finalizing our first conventional vessel to arrive week 25, the third week of June with +/- 3,900 pallets (60/40 split between Easy Peelers and Navels).
We have loaded limited volumes of Easy Peelers and small volumes of Star Ruby that will all be discharged in Newark.
In between the conventional vessels we will have arrivals of containers into Philadelphia as well from week 25. From week 27 we will have weekly arrivals of breakbulk vessels into the port of Philadelphia to move through the peak weeks of production. This fits in really well with our importers and retailers and their distribution.
Holt Logistics is really a great group of people to work with and have been a part of our success since the conception of the program. All of the importers’ and retailers’ infrastructure for further distribution to all parts of the U.S. are situated near the Delaware River, whether in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. So our fruit arriving at the port of Philadelphia does really make it a lot easier for all involved!
Easy Peelers
Off to a slower start, we are now moving to peak packing weeks of Clementines and the product is looking very good!
In terms of production, sizing is slightly smaller, but this should be seen into perspective as Summer Citrus ships according to DEMAND, not SUPPLY!
Oranges
As mentioned, we were off to a slower start and volumes will be arriving on the first conventional vessel the, COLD STREAM. Memorize that name and date (week 25, 3rd week of June), as you will want the required dose of vitamin C from South Africa!
Sizing could be slightly smaller and will perfectly fit the bagging programs, which has shown tremendous growth over the last few years. I want to emphasize that this does not mean Summer Citrus will ship an enormous amount of smaller sized fruit, it only indicates that production is slightly smaller and volumes shipped will be based according to importers and retailers’ needs.
We will keep you up to date on our progress with our trade newsletter distribution and encourage you to stay in touch with our importers and exporters to secure your needs for the upcoming Summer!
Are your colleagues and industry peers subscribers to our newsletter?
Please share this email with your colleagues as there is still a lot of education to be done about Summer Citrus from South Africa! If they are interested in subscribing to our newsletter, they can do so below.
Marketing Update
Do you follow news shared from Grocery Dive?
This summer, Grocery Dive will feature two stories featuring Summer Citrus from South Africa. Stay tuned for dates as we continue to work with the publication to develop the details.
As we mentioned, we have a healthy consumer marketing program that will reach shoppers across the USA during the summer months to drive awareness, trial and purchase of citrus from SA. We have more in store to DRIVE DEMAND of the world’s finest summer citrus and will keep you informed.
Hope you are all doing well and let’s stay in touch!
Suhanra Conradie
CEO – Summer Citrus from South Africa
