The ability to balance supply and demand is a key aspect of farming success. This is something Robert Graaff, who recently won the Western Cape’s Young Farmer of the Year award, knew even before he left high school, and is the reason he studied economics rather than agriculture. “Farmers have to offer a product that is acceptable to the market, at a cost that is beneficial to them and to their clients. Finding this balance requires economic intelligence – you must be able to analyse every operation on the farm to assess whether it is adding to your profitability or not,” Robert explains.
Robert, who has always had a curious and teachable spirit, has attended various production courses. “I have also learned much of what know and implement on my farms from other farmers. It is amazing what you can learn from the people around you just by being attentive to what they are doing,” he says. Robert grew up on a farm in De Doorns, an area renowned for table grape production, and in December 1997 he started farming at Lushof, just outside Ceres in the Breede River region. He still recalls his father, Sir David Graaff, phoning him while he was on holiday in Hawaii to ask whether he would like to take over as farm manager at Lushof. S ir David gave Robert three weeks to decide, but Robert made up his mind almost immediately.
He booked a return ticket the very next day and started farming less than a week later, and he is still happy with this decision today. Robert says his workforce is one of the essentials in achieving a good balance between supply and demand (see box). “You can have the best technologies and cultivars, but without a strong, healthy workforce these mean absolutely nothing. We do everything we can to foster a healthy work ethic and good relationships with our staff.” On the demand side, it is important to supply the consumer with the right product at the right time and comply with consumer demands. “Awareness of new trends is critically important if you want to maintain your market,” Robert says. Most of the fruit produced on his farms is exported to major retailers in the UK such as Waitrose, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Morrisons. One of the most recent trends is the demand for carbon-neutral products, following increased awareness of global warming and the negative impact of carbon emission on the environment. Marks & Spencer is one store that is committed to becoming carbon-neutral, and now prioritises sourcing its food from the UK and Ireland.
It is envisaged that produce shipped or sent via airfreight will in future be labelled with carbon counts, almost like calorie counts, so consumers can choose products with a small carbon footprint. It is not yet clear how serious UK retailers are about carbon footprints and how this market trend will affect South African producers. There is also a lot of confusion about how to assess and measure carbon emissions and offsets, due to a lack of internationally recognised standards. However, according to Robert, South Africa would be extremely foolish to take a wait-and-see approach, as failure to comply with the evolving standards of these supermarkets could mean losing one of the country’s most important export markets. Understanding the farm’s carbon status “We are doing a self-assessment to get an indication of where most of our carbon emissions occur, and areas that can offset these emissions,” he says. But he also acknowledges one should avoid spending a lot of money for no return.
For this reason, his current approach is primarily to assess the enterprise’s carbon status, create a stronger culture of recycling from farm to packhouse to retailer, and educate staff on saving energy and reducing wastage. Robert is also a direct supplier to Woolworths in South Africa. One of his challenges is to keep this market supplied with fruit throughout the year, something he achieves through a partnership with Israeli producers. Stone fruit is Robert’s production speciality, and he believes that getting the cultivar mix right has a huge impact on supply and demand. “Fruit cultivars produced on your farm must not only be suitable for your production environment to ensure sustainable volumes of yield and good fruit quality, they must also be in demand in the market,” Robert explains.
Robert goes on at least one trip annually to one of our competing stone fruit producing countries or one of our major export destinations, in order to familiarise himself with global production and consumer trends. His travels have helped him to build invaluable relationships across the world and resulted in his appointment as the intellectual property manager of certain Spanish and Israeli stone fruit cultivars. This entails testing over 150 Spanish stone fruit and over 50 Israeli plum varieties on his farm to identify their suitability for production under South Africa conditions. Robert also oversees trials of cultivars in South Africa to see if they are suitable for our production environment. This places him at the forefront of cultivar development and market demand. Another method of increasing demand is by hitting the market when there is a shortage. Robert is addressing this by expanding production to areas that produce fruit early, such as Tulbagh and Wolseley. He is in a partnership with a farmer in Wolseley where they produce 12ha, soon to be expanded to 36ha, of peaches and nectarines under nets.
The nets help to protect the fruit against wind and birds. He also produces 18ha of nectarines at Tulbagh, and hopes to expand production there as well. Robert has shares in the company that exports his produce, Delecta Fruit. An added advantage is that the company’s stone fruit marketing office is situated in the packhouse on the farm. “Having shares in an export company means you have a little more control over what happens to your product after it leaves the farm. It also adds transparency, in the sense that you are more aware of the costs and challenges associated with exporting,” Robert says. Contact Robert Graaff on (023) 313 3104 or e-mail [email protected]. |fw
