Citrus and Orange Export
South African citrus is juicy, sweet and delicious. Citrus from South Africa includes: oranges, grapefruit, lemons and soft citrus. Based on volumes, citrus production in SA is the largest fruit crop and most of it is exported. Citrus seasons in south Africa runs from February to end October.
Main commodities include: oranges, grapefruit, lemons and soft citrus.
Oranges: Navel, Navelate, Cambria, Witkrans, Dekta Seedless, Midknights and Valencia
Grapefruit: Star Ruby
Lemons: Eureka
Soft Citrus: Satsumas, Esbal, Clementine, Nova, Mandarins, Minneolas, Valley Gold and Orri/Nadorcott.
Oranges
Navel
Navels are the earliest maturing of orange varieties, producing seedless fruit of larger size than most others, with deep orange, easily peeled rings, and rich, sweet and pleasant flavour. This is our main cultivar. Varieties include: Palmer, Fisher, Fukumoto, Washington, Mclains, Newhalls, Lina’s and Lane late. The Navelate is smaller than the navel, and has a smaller and often concealed navel. They are much sweeter than the Navel.
Navelate
The Navelate is harvested after the Navel, but prior to the Valencia types. The Navelate is highly sought after in export markets, due to the outstanding brix levels. The main varieties includes Witkrans, Cambria and the Dan Sweet (Carninka).
Cara Cara Navel
The Cara Cara is a navel cultivar that differs from other navels. It owes its pigmented (red) flesh colour to the presence of lyco, the same pigment responsible for the flesh colour of Star ruby grapefruit.
Witkrans Navel
Closely related to the Cambria navel, this orange is round, but just as sweet as the Cambria navel. The Witkrans navel are harvested between Navels and Cambrias.
Cambria (Navelate)
This fruit has a distinct roundish-oval shape and originates from the Cambria area in the Gamtoos Valley. The skin is yellow orange and the overall suger content is very high. Cambrias are not vulnerable to creasing like the normal Palmer navels. They mature just before Midknights and usually arrive late in the overseas market, where they are extremely sought after.
Valencia
Valencia trees are vigorous and upright. The fruit are roundish-oblong in shape, with a well-coloured, moderately thin rind of smooth, sometimes finely pebbled texture. These days Valencias in the Gamtoos Valley are being substituted by Midknights.
Grapefruit
Star Ruby Grapefruit
Pigmented Star Ruby grapefruit is almost seedless, rarely having more than one or two seeds in a minority of fruits. It has an extremely thick rind, very high juice content and a sweeter, less bitter flavour than a Marsh variety.
Due to its late maturity, good quality fresh grapefruit can be packed well after the traditional Northern and Eastern production areas.
Lemon
The majority of our lemons are Eureka’s, rind thickness is medium to thin, and the fruit has a high acid level. Seeds are few, mostly seedless.
Soft Citrus
Satsuma
This is the first Soft Citrus cultivar of the season. Satsumas are seedless and sweet and include varieties such as Miho Wase, Miyagawa, Kuno and Owari.
Clementines
Clementines are a very sweet reddish cultivar that is almost seedless with excellent eating qualities! The variety we produce is Nules.
Novas
The Nova is a medium sized mandarin, with an appealing red-orange rind. The internal quality is very good, with juicy segments with anice deep-orange colour.
Nadorcott
This soft citrus variety is medium to large sized with an orange to red flesh. They are sweet and basically have no seeds, making them a favourite amongst overseas clients.
Mandarins
Mandarins are vative to south-eastern Asia and the Philippines and are members of Citrus reticulate Blanco. Dubbed ‘kid-glove’ oranges, mandarins have a thin, loose peel. The name ‘tangerine’ can be applied as an alternate name to the whole group, but is usually confined to the types with red-orange skin in the trade. Smaller and less spherical than oranges, they’re pebbly-skinned.
What we do?
At Nine Fruits Exports, we pride ourselves on delivering the highest quality fruits, cultivated with care and dedication. Our stringent food safety measures adhere to international standards, ensuring that every fruit is grown, harvested, and packaged with the utmost attention to hygiene and safety.
We believe in transparency throughout our supply chain, providing our customers with detailed information about the origin and handling of our products. Our commitment to quality and safety not only guarantees fresh, delicious fruits but also fosters trust and reliability with our partners and clients across the globe.
We Deliver The Best Fruit, Fresh Worldwide
At Nine Fruits Exports, we do not only grow the best quality fruit, but we also offer a fully integrated logistics service. We understand the demands of shipping fresh fruit and it is our goal to ensure that our shipments are handled as gently and efficiently throughout the entire supply chain. Nine Fruits Exports ensures the shortest possible transit time for our fruit. Our fruit is shipped in refrigerated containers which are designed to maintain the cold chain and ensure that our fruit is kept at constant prescribed temperature protocol throughout the journey to our international receivers. Nine Fruits Exports has Service Level Agreement contracts in place with the major shipping lines contracted to ship our fruit to ensure that our highly perishable product reaches it final destination on time.
As Nine Fruits Exports produces only fresh fruits, This allows us to focus all our attention on our product and we pride ourselves on the quality of our fruits. Accreditations -GlobalGAP accredited (with Spring add on audit) -HACCP to standard -SIZA accredited -SEDEX accredited -FMSA accredited Included in our systems is full traceability of our product which allows us to trace our product back to source. The information about the product is contained in the sticker we place on each carton which supplies all the information regarding the product it contains.
From farm to factory to fork, our products may encounter any number of health hazards during their journey through the supply chain. Safe food handling practices are of top priority to Nine Fruits Exports and procedures are thus implemented at every stage of the food production life cycle. Our suppliers are committed to the wellbeing of our end customers, and ensure their products are treated accordingly. In South Africa we abide by the Agricultural Product Standards Act, which is a set of stricy regulations for all agricultural entities producing food products. The act is aligned with global best practices and ensures the safety of agricultural food products throughout the supply chain.
The management team form the backbone of Nine Fruits Exports, providing guidance through their vision, expertise, and commitment to excellence in the global fruit export. Their collective experience and leadership are pivotal in shaping the strategic direction of Nine Fruits Exports, ensuring they remain at the forefront of innovation, and sustainability while delivering the finest quality citrus to clients around the world.