South African mandarin variety set to fill fall marketing window
South African mandarin variety set to fill fall marketing window
Two U.S. produce importers recently received South African approval to market a premiere fresh mandarin variety, Afourer.
The importers, Fisher Capespan USA LLC in Gloucester City, NJ, and Seald Sweet LLC in Vero Beach, FL, were appointed by CitroGold (Pty) Ltd. to handle the variety. CitroGold is a South African citrus variety management company based in Stellenbosch, Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Using the marketing name ClemenGold, Fisher Capespan first marketed the Afourer three seasons ago in limited volumes. Marc Solomon, president of Fisher Capespan, said that Afourer, or ClemenGolds, are a kind of mandarin; clementines and sumas are other mandarin species. The ClemenGold is "a seedless late mandarin with really superior eating quality. It is easy peeling like a clementine."
Seald Sweet Senior Vice President Mayda Sotomayor said of the Afourer, "We are looking at the best way to market this." Seald Sweet will not be selling it as a ClemenGold. Whatever it shall be called, Ms. Sotomayor described the fruit as "a seedling from Morocco. It is a late [in South Africa?s growing season] mandarin that produces in September and October. The size is very good. It traditionally peaks at 24-count in the 2.3-kilogram (five-pound) consumer pack. That is a very good size.
?The clementine market around the world, little by little, has gaps being filled," she added. "One of those gaps is filled by Afourer, which is a late-bearing mandarin. Its characteristics are very special. It is produced in the two months when there are very light offerings of fresh fruit. There are small amounts of citrus produced in that time period. Also, a lot of other offerings, such as peaches and pears, dwindle in production. The weather is changing and kids are going back to school, so it's a high-demand season and there is a gap for promotable products in that time period. Not only that, it is a very strong commodity with high color and high Brix. It is considered not the Mercedes, but the Bentley of mandarins. It is easy to peel and is considered the top of its class for durability, shelf life, color and taste. It is not only the right product at the right time, but a great commodity."
Mr. Solomon said that Fisher Capespan last year was the sole marketer of the ClemenGold. "It is a fantastic variety with incredible eating quality at a great time when demand is really strong."
Mr. Solomon concurred that the ClemenGold is originally a Moroccan variety that was shipped to Canada, but "not to the U.S. to the best of my knowledge." Until the first ClemenGolds were harvested in South Africa three seasons ago, no Southern Hemisphere countries had the variety. This coming season will be Fisher Capespan?s fourth year handling the ClemenGold. "We had a very small [volume] until last year because the [South African] trees are young." Last season, Fisher Capespan handled about 400,000 five-pound cartons. "The year before that we had less than 100,000."
Mr. Solomon said that South Africa will export about 1 million packages of Afourer this fall. He anticipates that about 600,000 cartons of that total will be destined for the United States, "but it's hard to know at this stage. The crop is still many months away. We don?t have a good handle on the crop at this point."
As for sharing the marketing of the variety with Seald Sweet, Mr. Solomon said, "The market is heavily undersupplied, so we don?t see it as a problem that Seald Sweet is marketing their own fruit."
Ms. Sotomayor said that Seald Sweet "will be very involved in introducing this commodity to the market with all the bells and whistles it deserves. It is an elite and unique product for the time, yet it is very mainstream."
She said that surveys of the U.S. population indicate that 46 percent know what a clementine is. Awareness is especially high in the Northeast and California. Seald Sweet is working toward marketing clementines (or mandarins) on a year-round basis. Ms. Sotomayor noted that Chilean clementines will be admissible to the United States for the first time this summer and will be in the market before the Afourer. She said that USDA phytosanitary approval isn?t far away, which will allow Peru to export clementines, giving U.S. retailers a 12-month supply of the popular fruit.
?We?re on the threshold of that now," she said. Ms. Sotomayor predicted that consumer acceptance of the Afourer will be excellent. "We will educate the consumers that it is a seedless easy-peeler and a great, healthy snack."
The South African mandarin will transition the produce industry from summertime clementines to fruit from Spain and California in the fall.
?Last year, California started in the first week of November. Spain usually tries to ship the first week of November, but traditionally it's the second week in November when they have distribution volume."
Ms. Sotomayor emphasized that that the Afourer is grown on very young South African trees that haven?t reached peak productivity. As that productivity increases, "we will better have the ability to fill in the market window gaps for citrus."
The Seald Sweet executive credited Bruce McEvoy for putting together this deal for Seald Sweet. In December, Mr. McEvoy moved from his position as president of Seald Sweet to become director of global affairs for Belgium-based Uni-Veg Group following Uni-Veg?s acquistion of Seald Sweet.
According to the CitroGold web site, a joint venture between Capespan and Citroplant (Pty) Ltd. was initiated in 1999 after both companies realized that there was a market for the management of exclusive citrus cultivars. What started out as a small company soon grew to be a leading citrus cultivar development company known as CitroGold (Pty) Ltd., lending valuable technical, management and promotional expertise to the citrus industry in South Africa. Ms. Sotomayor said that CitroGold extended the Afourer marketing licenses through the Prestige Mandarin Growers organization.
CitroGold is also handling Clemenpons, Primosole, Orri Mandarin (Clemen?or), Nadorcott (ClemenGold), Mor Mandarin (HoneyGold), Eureka seedless lemon, Turkey oranges, Cara Cara Navel and Melogold grapefruit.
The importers, Fisher Capespan USA LLC in Gloucester City, NJ, and Seald Sweet LLC in Vero Beach, FL, were appointed by CitroGold (Pty) Ltd. to handle the variety. CitroGold is a South African citrus variety management company based in Stellenbosch, Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Using the marketing name ClemenGold, Fisher Capespan first marketed the Afourer three seasons ago in limited volumes. Marc Solomon, president of Fisher Capespan, said that Afourer, or ClemenGolds, are a kind of mandarin; clementines and sumas are other mandarin species. The ClemenGold is "a seedless late mandarin with really superior eating quality. It is easy peeling like a clementine."
Seald Sweet Senior Vice President Mayda Sotomayor said of the Afourer, "We are looking at the best way to market this." Seald Sweet will not be selling it as a ClemenGold. Whatever it shall be called, Ms. Sotomayor described the fruit as "a seedling from Morocco. It is a late [in South Africa?s growing season] mandarin that produces in September and October. The size is very good. It traditionally peaks at 24-count in the 2.3-kilogram (five-pound) consumer pack. That is a very good size.
?The clementine market around the world, little by little, has gaps being filled," she added. "One of those gaps is filled by Afourer, which is a late-bearing mandarin. Its characteristics are very special. It is produced in the two months when there are very light offerings of fresh fruit. There are small amounts of citrus produced in that time period. Also, a lot of other offerings, such as peaches and pears, dwindle in production. The weather is changing and kids are going back to school, so it's a high-demand season and there is a gap for promotable products in that time period. Not only that, it is a very strong commodity with high color and high Brix. It is considered not the Mercedes, but the Bentley of mandarins. It is easy to peel and is considered the top of its class for durability, shelf life, color and taste. It is not only the right product at the right time, but a great commodity."
Mr. Solomon said that Fisher Capespan last year was the sole marketer of the ClemenGold. "It is a fantastic variety with incredible eating quality at a great time when demand is really strong."
Mr. Solomon concurred that the ClemenGold is originally a Moroccan variety that was shipped to Canada, but "not to the U.S. to the best of my knowledge." Until the first ClemenGolds were harvested in South Africa three seasons ago, no Southern Hemisphere countries had the variety. This coming season will be Fisher Capespan?s fourth year handling the ClemenGold. "We had a very small [volume] until last year because the [South African] trees are young." Last season, Fisher Capespan handled about 400,000 five-pound cartons. "The year before that we had less than 100,000."
Mr. Solomon said that South Africa will export about 1 million packages of Afourer this fall. He anticipates that about 600,000 cartons of that total will be destined for the United States, "but it's hard to know at this stage. The crop is still many months away. We don?t have a good handle on the crop at this point."
As for sharing the marketing of the variety with Seald Sweet, Mr. Solomon said, "The market is heavily undersupplied, so we don?t see it as a problem that Seald Sweet is marketing their own fruit."
Ms. Sotomayor said that Seald Sweet "will be very involved in introducing this commodity to the market with all the bells and whistles it deserves. It is an elite and unique product for the time, yet it is very mainstream."
She said that surveys of the U.S. population indicate that 46 percent know what a clementine is. Awareness is especially high in the Northeast and California. Seald Sweet is working toward marketing clementines (or mandarins) on a year-round basis. Ms. Sotomayor noted that Chilean clementines will be admissible to the United States for the first time this summer and will be in the market before the Afourer. She said that USDA phytosanitary approval isn?t far away, which will allow Peru to export clementines, giving U.S. retailers a 12-month supply of the popular fruit.
?We?re on the threshold of that now," she said. Ms. Sotomayor predicted that consumer acceptance of the Afourer will be excellent. "We will educate the consumers that it is a seedless easy-peeler and a great, healthy snack."
The South African mandarin will transition the produce industry from summertime clementines to fruit from Spain and California in the fall.
?Last year, California started in the first week of November. Spain usually tries to ship the first week of November, but traditionally it's the second week in November when they have distribution volume."
Ms. Sotomayor emphasized that that the Afourer is grown on very young South African trees that haven?t reached peak productivity. As that productivity increases, "we will better have the ability to fill in the market window gaps for citrus."
The Seald Sweet executive credited Bruce McEvoy for putting together this deal for Seald Sweet. In December, Mr. McEvoy moved from his position as president of Seald Sweet to become director of global affairs for Belgium-based Uni-Veg Group following Uni-Veg?s acquistion of Seald Sweet.
According to the CitroGold web site, a joint venture between Capespan and Citroplant (Pty) Ltd. was initiated in 1999 after both companies realized that there was a market for the management of exclusive citrus cultivars. What started out as a small company soon grew to be a leading citrus cultivar development company known as CitroGold (Pty) Ltd., lending valuable technical, management and promotional expertise to the citrus industry in South Africa. Ms. Sotomayor said that CitroGold extended the Afourer marketing licenses through the Prestige Mandarin Growers organization.
CitroGold is also handling Clemenpons, Primosole, Orri Mandarin (Clemen?or), Nadorcott (ClemenGold), Mor Mandarin (HoneyGold), Eureka seedless lemon, Turkey oranges, Cara Cara Navel and Melogold grapefruit.
