Fruit of our labour

Each and every one of Amathole’s berries provides the colour, flavour and love that only passion can provide. For this berry determined business, the seed of an idea, planted nearly 20 years ago, has come to fruition—quite literally

With every new government message, the human race is expected to consume more fruit. The task of getting the correct quota becomes much more of a pleasure when the fruit you are eating is a dazzling little hand-held marvel—like a blueberry. Amathole Berries’ job is to make sure you keep getting them.

Realisation of a dream

The seasons come and the seasons go—to a good fruit provider, it is the reality they live by. For four years Amathole Berries has been supplying delicious blueberries to a grateful public, but to get this far has taken time, dedication and no shortage of knowledge.

Nearly 20 years ago Philip Howes dreamt of vines cascading across land and plentiful fruit to show for his labour. After the years of preparation required, the orchards of Amathole Berries are now a signature across the landscape.

“Amathole Berries is the realisation of a dream. I’d been trying to do a large blueberry project for years and had been breaking down the doors of most development funders and producers,” he explains. “Eventually the planets aligned and the IDC (Industrial Development Corporation) in this country decided to focus on berries as one of their strategic crops.”

Equipped with this endorsement Howes—who is not only a fruit farmer but also a keen horticulturalist—has put his plan into action and sought to become a leader in the fledgling industry, as well as creating meaningful rural employment, particularly for women.

His central passion has been to create a sustainable, higher-value product and, so far, it’s paying off. Furthermore, because the art of blueberry growth is a fairly straight forward science, enthusiastic staff are very easily trained.

Currently the company picks its fruit and takes it directly to on-site cold stores on a half-hourly basis. The batches are then delivered to local markets or exported. Also, the class 2 fruit goes into the frozen range, which is flown to Johannesburg or Cape Town, primarily for muffin and pie related projects.

Society’s ties

Amathole’s inseparable link to the local community is something that is very close to Howes’s heart and he takes social responsibility as seriously as profits.

“I’m an African, I believe in South Africa and I think the one way we’re going right, is to empower people. It stabilises the business and galvanises the region,” he reflects.

Many of the employees are also significant shareholders of the business, and will eventually end up owning 52 per cent of the business (at the moment the figure stands at 40).

“For this company, we are not obsessed by the corporate bottom line. Our pro-people philosophy forces us to get down to grass roots, incorporate training programmes and provide people with positive education.”

Teaching its staff does not involve how to farm blueberries either, it’s also about how to open a bank account, and even teach people how to write their names for the first time. The theory being that if you train them to be good citizens, they’ll end up being good blueberry farmers.

Growing the company

Amathole also has ‘associated growers’ or ‘out-growers’—primarily black farmers—who the company assists with the planting blueberries on their own farms.

These are standalone businesses, with part of the agreement being that Amathole can farm on the land.

“Our plan is to farm on 1,000 hectares, of which 225 will be owned by ourselves, and the other 800, or 775 hectares will be owned, exclusively and 100 per cent, by farm owners,” says Howes.

The out-growers land was planted last year and again this year, so they will start to receive crops next year. The first business is only ten minutes away from the Amathole headquarters, enabling the fruit to be brought in fresh.

This increase in production will be vital as the appetite for blueberries increases and more people opt for a healthy lifestyle. Indeed, focusing on low-chill, early varieties has been essential, as the market continues to grow 25-30 per cent every year.

Amathole will plant 15 and 20 hectares a year until it has achieved the vision of 225 hectare by 2021. There are also other expansions planned for a processing plant, which will concentrate on jam and the yoghurt bases.

In addition, the company will be venturing into cold-weather berry ranges, such as cranberries, loganberries and cranberries.

Amatole and Philip Howes have certainly proved that a small fruit can produce very big results, breathing life into the business landscape, promoting optimism and transforming the lives of the people living on it. Success has never tasted so sweet.

www.amatholeberries.co.za

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