What we ship
Citrus first, and the rest of the season behind it.
Indian demand is growing fastest in mandarin-type fruit, so that is where the programme is weighted and where South Africa is strongest. The trade is not limited to it: the same growers, packhouses, cold chain and paperwork carry table grapes, deciduous fruit and subtropicals, and we build those programmes the same way.
The citrus categories
Where the programme is weighted
| Category | 2025/26 forecast | Share of planted area | Export window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranges navels and valencias |
1,850,000 t | 46% | Week 16 – 45 |
| Soft citrus mandarins, clementines |
1,000,000 t | 27% | Week 11 – 44 |
| Lemons | 840,000 t | 18% | Week 3 – 41 |
| Grapefruit | 430,000 t | 9% | Week 10 – 40 |
Those windows are the industry’s, not ours. What matters for India is the overlap between them and the gap in Indian domestic supply — which is narrower than the full season, and is the reason this trade is a programme rather than a standing offer.
Beyond citrus
The rest of what South Africa exports
Citrus is the lead because of the window, the volume and the protocol. It is not the limit of what we will contract. South Africa ships across a long season, and the parts of a programme that are hard — grower relationships, cold chain, phytosanitary documentation, an importer who pays — are the same whichever crate is on the pallet.
| Category | Lines | Broad window |
|---|---|---|
| Citrus | Soft citrus, oranges, lemons, grapefruit | March to November |
| Table grapes | White, red and black seedless | November to April |
| Deciduous | Apples, pears, stone fruit | December to August |
| Subtropical | Avocados, mangoes, litchis | February to November |
Between citrus and table grapes the two windows nearly meet, which is what makes a year-round relationship with a buyer possible rather than a single seasonal shipment. Market access differs by crop and by destination — some lines are open to India today, some are not — so we confirm the protocol before we contract, never after.
Our programme
What we are contracting this season
- Lead lines
- Soft citrus and late oranges, selected against the window each programme is aimed at
- Other lines
- Table grapes, deciduous and subtropical fruit, contracted where the window and the market access work
- Season
- Citrus May to October; the grape and deciduous lines run the opposite half of the year
- Structure
- Grower programmes contracted ahead of the season, not bought on the spot market
- Volume
- Agreed per programme. Tell us the variety, window and port and we will come back with what we can commit to
Quality
What a buyer is actually paying for
Origin, and the certainty that the fruit will arrive in the condition it left. Citrus rarely fails on the fruit itself. It fails on cold chain and on paperwork, and both are operational problems rather than agricultural ones.
Every consignment carries its orchard and packhouse codes on the carton and on the phytosanitary certificate, so any pallet can be traced back to the block it came from.
Sources
Industry figures are the most recent published at the time of writing and are indicative, not a warranty.