Summer Citrus from South Africa concludes the 25th season STRONGER TOGETHER
As we close the 2023 season, I wanted to say thank you for being a part of our 25th shipping season’s success. Soon, most parties involved in the citrus industry will take a well-deserved break and spend the holidays with their loved ones. Before we officially close the season, I wanted to share a few final thoughts.
Recently South Africa’s Springboks won the Rugby World Cup in France, and it brought a sense of hope and togetherness amongst all South Africans. The team’s “STRONGER TOGETHER” slogan has fueled unity across our country and is reminiscent of our program.
Click the video below to view highlights from the past year!
We are a diverse group connecting all players throughout the total supply chain, and we all need each other to sustainably grow our business and continue to be successful!
I have always been a fan of sports, both teams and individual as they have many uplifting lessons and learnings that can be shared. Summer Citrus has sponsored the Women’s Fresh Perspectives Breakfast at the IFPA’s Global Show for some time now and this year’s speaker did not disappoint.
Allyson Felix is an American track and field athlete with 7 Olympic gold medals amongst a longer list of accolades and an extremely prosperous career. Despite her success and drive to be the best, her touching story of becoming a mother at the highlight of her career and designing the first female running shoe/brand Saysh, left the crowd super inspired.
During the first week of November, South Africa hosted the AGOA Forum in Johannesburg and I was asked to represent the industry as a speaker on the panel with the following topic of conversation: “Recommendations for improving AGOA Utilization a Better Connecting U.S and African Companies.”
The Summer Citrus program to the U.S. has such a positive profile among the trade and our model of collaboration is well recognized and appreciated. The renewal of AGOA is of utmost importance to all of us if we want to sustain our business into the U.S. Most of the other southern hemisphere citrus supplying countries enter the U.S. on some sort of free trade agreement and South Africa will not be competitive without the renewal AGOA. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is legislation that provides duty-free treatment to goods of designated sub-Saharan African countries. All parties on both the supply and demand side should advocate for AGOA to be installed permanently.
Finally, I would like to thank you all for your contribution to our program. All the service providers have a role to fulfil, especially on the transparent information we share weekly. This is prized input from all, starting here in South Africa with exporters, shipping lines, U.S. depots, bilateral groups, ports (both sides) and our valued importers to share the necessary information. As we work with a commodity that has an ever-changing lifecycle, the timing of the fruit matching the demand of the market determines the success of the program. Especially the heavier rainfall earlier this season that took us all off guard. Nonetheless, all the players throughout the total supply chain were willing to work with us and in the end, we reached our overall target!
Please accept our deepest appreciation for your dedication and commitment to our program. We wish all of you a blessed festive season and a prosperous 2024! You will hear from us soon in the New Year, as we start our planning for the 2024 season.
Regards from a sunny South Africa,
Suhanra Conradie
CEO – Summer Citrus from South Africa
suhanra@summercitrus.com
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