By Diane Silcock
ZZ2, a major South African agricultural conglomerate that is more than a century old, is on a growth trajectory to expand its South African fresh produce exports, with new markets having opened up for the group in China, India, and Japan. However, will their efforts be hampered by Cape Town’s port problems?
South African fresh produce exports: diverse farming regions and crop variety
The group farms mainly in the Limpopo province, as well as in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, North West province, Gauteng and Namibia with their farms producing avocados, tomatoes, apples, pears, onions, mangoes, litchis, cherries, almonds and Medjool dates.
Cape Town port challenges resulted in avocados taking over 40 days to reach Europe
ZZ2 is expecting to produce around 33 000 tons of avocados in 2025, the majority of which will be destined for the UK, Europe, China, India, Japan and possibly the USA. Cape Business News spoke to ZZ2 marketing manager, Clive Garrett, about the port challenges they have been experiencing.
“It’s been around six years that we have been struggling with the ports, but in the last two years it’s reached crisis proportions with our avocados taking over 40 days to land in Europe. South Africa will produce more avocados, apples, pears, grapes, stone fruit, subtropicals, if we are making very sure that we can get our product to the export market. If we can’t, we are not going to plant one more hectare of avocados to have it destroyed in a logistics chain.”
Garrett goes on to say that these problems have cost the industry billions of rands as well as caused damage to the country’s reputation along with brand reputation damage.
“Agriculture has the opportunity to create jobs which is what South Africa needs, therefore we should not be hamstrung,” he says. “The agriculture industry is prepared to expand because the markets are there, but we dare not, if the logistics remain a problem.”
South African fresh produce exports: 2025 harvests and global expansion strategy
Garrett says ZZ2 harvests for 2025 are looking very good and they will start exporting their produce around end February. There is an indication via their exporters that there is some improvement in the Cape Town port, but they are not confident that delays may not arise and are therefore looking very closely at exporting some of their avocados out of Durban and Gqeberha.
“In terms of avocados,” says Garrett, “traditional markets have always been in the UK and European Union. We have been working very hard with the South African Avocado Growers’ Association and with the South African Department of Agriculture to open up new markets and the Department has done a sterling job in opening up China, India and Japan for us. Therefore from 2025 we will start sending volumes to these countries. We are also hoping to get the USA open to us this year.”
Local market and retail
On the local front, ZZ2 was recently awarded Shoprite Group’s annual Supplier of the Year Award 2024 in the Fruit and Vegetable Producer category. Through these awards, the Shoprite Group recognises the valuable contribution suppliers make to the group’s continued success.
ZZ2 prides itself on its consistency in supply, high quality produce, and all-round good service delivery levels. The group’s joint venture company, N’Voy, handles all of ZZ2’s business in retail.
What sets ZZ2 apart from competitors is its ability to provide a basket of produce right from a basic staple food like tomatoes through to an exotic cherry. Its tomatoes are also cultivated all year round as they farm in harmony with nature, planting in different regions of the country and moving as the climate changes.
Annually, around 230 000 tons of fresh produce is currently packed and marketed, making ZZ2 one of the largest companies of its kind. Its brand name is well known across South Africa and internationally and is synonymous with high quality. ZZ2 is proud to be able to provide healthy, affordable food every day of the year.
