Packing of the first export plums (Suplum 41) starts this week at Sonlia Vrugte Pakhuis in Wellington, Western Cape.
The packhouse's stonefruit season kicked off three weeks ago with Sunect 21 nectarines, a fairly new cultivar of which fair volumes have been planted.
The first Supech 16 peaches and Royal Ruby nectarines were packed last week.
Sonlia runs a tight ship – packing of Midknight Valencias ran until mid-September, whereafter annual maintenance took place in preparation for a busy stonefruit season ahead. The pomegranate season commences in late summer; Sonlia is the biggest pomegranate packhouse in South Africa and the only one to sort pomegranates optically.
Photo supplied by Sonlia Pakhuis
Stonefruit is mainly packed for export by Stems, some for Icon Fruit, both stonefruit specialist exporters, and packed in Sonlia's own brand for the local market.
Warm spring assists sugar development
“So far, the packouts are looking good,” says JC Muller, Sonlia’s chief executive officer.
“The sizing is normal, colour is attractive and the fruit’s cosmetic appearance is pleasing.”
He notes that sugar levels are often a challenge on the early varieties but with the warmer weather this year, it has been less challenging than usual.
“We are packing for eight stonefruit producers, of whom four have already started their harvest. We will this year also be packing for four additional producers who are exporting through Icon Fruit. It will be the third year that we’re assisting Icon with facilities for producers who struggle with insufficient packing capacity.”
Because of the recent port strike, some early stonefruit has had to be flown out, but it is expected that seafreight will now continue as planned.
For more information:
JC Muller
Sonlia Pakkers
Tel: +27 21 873 0449
Email: [email protected]