By Eamonn Ryan
The inauguration of the Maersk Belcon Cold Store in Cape Town marked a pivotal moment for South Africa’s citrus industry, offering a platform to reflect on the sector’s rapid growth and future potential. This is part one of a two-part series.
Speaking at the event, Gerrit van der Merwe, director and chairman of the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa, highlighted the need for innovation, collaboration, and strategic investment to maintain the country’s competitive edge in global citrus exports.
Van der Merwe revealed that South Africa’s citrus sector is experiencing remarkable expansion. “We set a vision to process 260 million cartons this year – and we’ve already surpassed 200 million. There’s even talk of reaching 300 million cartons,” he said, emphasising that these ambitious targets are underpinned by improved farming practices, technological adoption and a commitment to quality that meets international market standards.
The speaker stressed the urgency for the industry to adapt rapidly, citing labour shortages in the northern hemisphere as a key factor driving increased global demand for South African citrus. Drawing on evolutionary biology, he compared the pace of human-driven innovation to natural evolution. “If nature normally takes thousands of years to evolve, humans have condensed that process. Similarly, we must evolve over the next five to ten years to meet demand and maintain our competitive edge,” he said.
Beyond production, Van der Merwe highlighted the economic significance of the citrus industry, noting that it provides over 100 000 direct jobs, with millions dependent indirectly on the sector. He emphasised the responsibility that comes with this scale, urging collaboration between growers, the private sector and government to address broader societal challenges, including high unemployment and food insecurity.
“This facility – the Belcon Cold Store – is the thunder, the promise of what’s ahead,” Van der Merwe said. “But the rain hasn’t yet come. It’s up to us, public and private stakeholders alike, to bring that promise to fruition.” The cold store, with its state-of-the-art refrigeration, multimodal connectivity, and capacity to handle millions of cartons, provides a tangible foundation to support these ambitions.