Pineapple industry takes fertiliser distributor to court

The Eastern Cape pineapple industry, including nearly 40 pineapple growers, is taking Protea Chemicals to court. They are claiming between R75 million and R85 million from the company, which is owned by the JSE-listed Omnia group, for the catastrophic losses incurred as a result of using imported Chinese zinc sulphate fertiliser, allegedly sourced by the Omnia group, that contained higher levels of the heavy metal cadmium than allowed. “We are in the process of issuing the summons,’’ said Werner de Jager, a legal representative of the Eastern Cape pineapple industry. The unacceptably high levels of cadmium, which did not comply with the regulations of the vital European market, were first discovered in late 2006 when a shipment of fruit destined for Switzerland was tested by the Swiss Department of Health. S ince then, the industry has been reeling and the effects were apparent when the merged Summerpride and Collondale canneries had to retrench nearly 400 workers. This was because only 28% of their fruit was suitable for use for canning in 2007, despite 83% having been earmarked, said newly appointed MD of Summerpride Foods, Pierre Tilney. He said that the fruit had to be redirected to juice production, where cadmium levels could be controlled with the blending process. A s a result of this serious setback, the Cape of Agriculture threw the industry a lifeline of a R12,5 million loan for the planting of new crops. Despite expecting the first contamination-free fruit by mid-2008, Tilney explains that getting the canning industry back on track will be difficult from a skills perspective. – Mike Burgess