SATI PRESS RELEASE | WEEK 50 | 2017

PRESS RELEASE

SATI releases 2nd Crop Estimate for 2017/18 season

14 December, 2017 – The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) released the 2nd Crop Estimate for the 2017/18 table grape season with a lower estimate of between 55,4 million and 60,3 million cartons, mainly caused by a lower estimate for the Orange River Region. The estimate has been lowered mainly due to delayed ripening and lower bunch weight.

The South African table grape season started normally from the earliest Northern Provinces Region. The Orange River region has seen a delay of between 7-10 days in the ripening of grapes with lighter bunch weights.

The next couple of weeks of packing will be shorter due to the public holidays over the Christmas period. Industry experts expect that despite the delay in ripening, fruit will not be delivered in peaks but will be evenly spread throughout the coming weeks.

The extreme heat during week 49 caused damage to grapes in parts of the Olifants River region. This region also saw a further cutback in water allocations, which has been accounted for in the updated estimate.

The estimate for the Berg River and Hex River regions remains the same at this point with the possible effect of the drought already accounted for. It is still too early to make an accurate prediction of the harvest in the last two regions.

Willem Bestbier, Chief Executive Officer of SATI, said producers advised us they will endeavour to meet programs and contracted business while focusing on the well-known South African quality offering and taste.

Crop estimates are done in co-operation with industry experts who are in close contact with growers in all regions, with the expectation that the best information available was used. This structure enables SATI to be more responsive to in-season developments and deviations.

The estimate, in the table below, was reached by considering the experience and observations of the group of experts, the latest industry vine census and historical data.