South Africa Grape Boom

The Ex River Valley region. It's the heartland of South Africa's stable grape industry and farmers there are in the midst of harvest. The season's been good to them, the weather's been favourable. A weaker RAND means stronger earnings from their exports and China is proving a lucrative market. Leander Kok runs one of the largest operations in the region. This year alone he will export more than 3,000 tonnes to the Far East. China for a place like the Ex Valley is a very big market. Our main varieties we focus on here, Crimson and Autumn, is the biggest varieties in China in terms of African produce. So for us I would say we can't call it the emerging market anymore. It is 25 to 30 percent of our business at this stage. Stable grapes are meant to be eaten raw. They're a different variety to the wine grapes and only the best are picked for the export market. Not only are stable grape farmers hoping the strong dollar might boost their exports, but some in the wine growing industry are pinning their hopes that they too can capitalise on a good harvest. Shiraz is a dark-skinned grape that flourishes in the warm conditions here. It also produces one of the best cultivars for making wine. At this moment it looks quite good. We did our spring program and we are halfway through harvesting and it looks good. At this stage we have a little bit more than last year. All these grapes will go to the cellar so the wine will be made. We'll see what quality the winemakers are going to make and from that we can see if it's going to be a good selling year. Over the last 12 months the grape farming industry has been through a tumultuous time, including striking workers demanding wage hikes. But now a harmonious labour environment has returned and with the onset of what already is a good harvest, this could be a very good year for table grape producers. That was Andrews CCTV, Cape Town.