After ten years of negotiations, the Philippines has finally allowed imports of various table grape varieties from South Africa, beginning February 26, 2025.
Popular varieties like Crimson Seedless could form a major share of exports to the new market. They will also constitute a part of the 23 to 25% remaining portion of non-Europe bound South African table grapes.
Currently, South Africa dispatches around 55% of its table grapes to the European Union and 20% to the UK. This according to the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) .
SA’s Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen views this new destination as an economic leeway for especially black farmers to find new markets.
Black farmers constitute some of the 14,843 permanent workers in the local grape sector, as of the 2022-23 market year.
With the help of seasonal workers, this permanent crew insures annual table grape exports totaling 63 million cartons (2022-23 season). This haul could increase to 76.4 million cartons in the 2024-25 season, per a December 2024 industry estimate.
Main Table Grape Cultivars
With this newest export opportunity, South Africa’s heirloom varieties will get a chance to complement PH’s homegrown Catawba and Cardinal varieties.
Cape and Orange River grapes are available seven months a year, from October through May. Although this marketing season overlaps that of competitors Italy and Spain, it still fills winter and spring shelves in Europe.
The 2023-24 season’s most exported grape varieties from South Africa included Crimson Seedless, AutumnCrisp, Prime, Sweet Celebration and Sweet Globe.
Crimson Seedless also commands the table grape acreage in the country at 4,021 hectares or 19% share, as of 2019.
According to the government, Prime seedless and Sweet Globe comprise 8% and 3% of all acreage (2020), respectively.
While it is indeterminate which varieties will land in the PH, all pointers indicate an opening for Crimson Seedless. The country ships in seedless types like this one at prices of around $2.04 per kg, as of 2023.
Overall, South Africa has now secured the growing Philippines’ table grape import market with a capacity for 46,456 tonnes per year. And as the data below shows, the new opportunity expands an already flourishing huge grape industry in South Africa.
South Africa Grape Statistics
With an annual output of 1,852,299 tonnes (2019), South Africa is among the leading quintet of table grape-producing nations worldwide. It is also among the top seven wine-producing nations at 9.3 million hectoliters of wine (2023).
Since the first quarter of the 20th century, South Africa has been reliably supplying the Northern Hemisphere with table/dried grapes and wine. Hence, the table/dry grape sector often generates as much as 9.1 billion Rand ($495.22 million) in annual returns.
Which is the total acreage of table grapes in South Africa?
Table grape vineyards constitute 28% or 21,100 hectares of the tropical fruit area in South Africa, as of 2019. Of this, combo varieties constitute 6,992 hectares or 33% while the rest come from major single varieties. One of these is Crimson Seedless, which makes up 19% of the total vine area, ahead of Prime seedless with 8% share.
Which are the wine grape varieties of South Africa?
The country has over 26 diverse wine grape varieties alone, most of which red types and the rest white cultivars. These sprawl across 91,000 hectares of vineyard country, as of 2023.
Eight varieties make up 80% of the country’s wine grapes, led by the grassy Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. A standing out wine grape variety is Chenin blanc, the provider of 18.6% of national wine grapes. There is also Colombard, the second most prevalent white wine type in the country.
Other cultivars include Cabernet Sauvignon (11% national grove area), warm climate-loving Merlot, Shiraz and Pinotage.