The 2025/26 South African table grape season is off to a promising start, with conditions across all five production regions indicating a normal season, says industry organisation the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI).

It expects volumes inspected for export to reach 79.4-million 4.5 kg-equivalent cartons, according to its first crop estimate for the season. This represents a 0.6% increase compared with the 2024/25 actual export volume of 78.9-million cartons, and reflects a stable outlook across production regions.

“The early signs are encouraging. Growing conditions have been favourable in the months leading up to the export season, and at this stage we expect the 2025/26 harvest to deliver good fruit quality and sufficient volumes to meet demand in our export markets,” says SATI CEO Mecia Petersen.

Further, SATI is positive that recent improvements at the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT) will continue to support improvements in port performance during the peak deciduous fruit export period.

Over the past year, State-owned rail agency Transnet has invested in new equipment at the CTCT as part of its turnaround strategy to improve efficiency at the country’s ports. It is expected that 18 new rubber-tyre gantry cranes will be deployed at CTCT by the end of November, which will be supplemented by some of the existing equipment.

The new equipment and other initiatives, driven by improved Transnet-private sector collaboration, are aimed at enhancing productivity and streamlining operations at the terminal.

“These measures help to strengthen confidence in the reliability of our logistics network. Efficient supply chain logistics is essential to ensuring that South Africa remains a trusted global supplier of quality table grapes,” she says.

“Our growers, exporters and partners continue to demonstrate resilience and collaboration, and the industry is dedicated to upholding South Africa’s reputation as a reliable supplier of consistent quality grapes to markets around the world,” Petersen says.

Meanwhile, this season also sees South African growers prepare to export table grapes to the Philippines for the first time, following new market access secured earlier this year.

The first shipments are expected later this season and will be supported by a targeted market development campaign to introduce South African grapes to the Philippines market, Petersen notes.

SATI will run a market development campaign in Canada and the US, with support from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture.

Despite the tariffs currently affecting exports to the US, the industry remains committed to maintaining a presence in the market and is optimistic about long-term growth opportunities in the region.

Meanwhile, SATI, through its partnership with logistics advisory firm Transnova Africa, aims to expand Transnova Africa's prescriptive logistics model, which enables growers and exporters to make data-driven decisions about the most efficient route to market.

Building on this initiative's success, SATI and Transnova Africa are collaborating with Transnet and the Western Cape government to enhance data sharing and real-time logistics coordination.

SATI and Transnova Africa also have invited other commodities to participate in a free-of-charge proof of concept, with the aim of onboarding more fruit types to provide a more holistic value chain view.