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South Africa’s guava industry is faced with a double whammy of market weakness and environmental challenges as guava consumption remains soft, according to Guava Producers Association chair Willem Grobbelaar.He said the guava industry was tackling an “imbalance” between the supply of processing-grade fruit and demand, which was a worry for producers. Grobbelaar pointed to this season’s shifting weather patterns, which had resulted in fruit maturing earlier than usual and softer demand from processors due to pressure in the international juice market and the canned fruit sector.He said the shifting weather had been a challenge in the Western Cape.“This season, below-average rainfall in parts of the Western Cape contributed to smaller fruit earlier in the harvest. Fresh market consumers generally prefer larger fruit, while smaller fruit is channelled into processing, placing additional pressure on an already constrained processing market.” He added that guava growers also continue to manage increasing production costs, including labour, electricity, fertiliser, crop protection products and logistics.“One of the greatest opportunities for the industry is to encourage consumers to explore the wide range of South African guava products available on supermarket shelves. Increased consumer demand benefits the entire value chain, from growers to processors and retailers,” Grobbelaar said.Global pressure on the juice market, carry-over concentrate stocks and softer demand for canned products had also led to processors purchasing lower volumes. “As a result, factories are taking lower volumes of guavas, particularly fruit destined for processing, which has created concern among producers,” he said.One of the greatest opportunities for the industry is to encourage consumers to explore the wide range of South African guava products available on supermarket shelves. Increased consumer demand benefits the entire value chain, from growers to processors and retailers.— Willem Grobbelaar, Guava Producers Association chair The guava industry generates R100m revenue a year and is concentrated in Wellington, Paarl and Porterville in the Western Cape, while Limpopo and Mpumalanga also produce some fruit.Besides fresh guavas, guava products vary from dried guava rolls, guava snack packs, guava yoghurt, guava juice, canned guavas, sliced ready-to-eat guavas and guava purées.Grobbelaar said that during the past season 21,620t of guavas were harvested, of which 77% was processed into juice, 4% into canned products, and 19% sold as fresh fruit.“While the guava industry is smaller than industries such as apples, pears or citrus, it remains an important contributor to rural economies, providing employment throughout production, harvesting, packing and processing.”Read: LUNCEDO MTWENTWE | Support systems for agriculture must be strengthenedHe said the industry aims for greater consumer awareness of the many guava products already available on supermarket shelves. “Increased demand for these products ultimately supports South African growers and processors.” Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), called on South Africans to consume more guavas in a post on X following this year’s Guava Association Conference. He said that issues of profitability are still the main challenge.Sihlobo told Business Times that while the guava industry is small in South Africa, it has the potential for growth.He said the industry has been susceptible to guava wilt disease, which decimated the northern orchards in previous years while the sector struggled with low profitability. “The diseases, low profitability, and low development of cultivars are some of the issues that face this industry, especially the profitability issue. The consumption or demand for guavas is also just generally weak,” he said.Guavas are an important fruit, Sihlobo said, and South Africa needs to boost demand so that farmers can see some improvement in their earnings, which would encourage them to produce more over time.He noted that production is currently between 30,000t and 35,000t a year, compared to Thailand’s 2.5Mt or Peru’s 280,000t exported in a typical year.Business Times
