Savour the rich fruits of El Dorado

South Africa is considered one of the world’s top growers of citrus fruit – especially high-quality grapefruit. Maryke Foulds looks at the evolving landscape of these products during F&B production and how it can enrich confectionery and beverages.

Symrise is involved in the responsible cultivation of grapefruit in the KwaZulu-Natal coastal area. The international flavour and fragrance specialist can comfortably supply customers and consumers with this valuable raw material as it works towards making a positive impact on local communities. Symrise is also improving its environmental impact and expanding its citrus product range with unique and delicious taste options.

According to Rudy McLean, managing director of Symrise South Africa and Nigeria, farmers in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province comply with the highest sustainability standards, as certified by SIZA. “Our Symrise policy is to follow SAI FSA guidelines. We jointly strive to make the whole citrus sector fully sustainable, supporting farming communities to achieve silver or gold status. Besides grapefruit, local farmers also grow lemons and oranges - an equally sustainable basis of citrus taste solutions.”

The company will also innovate side-stream aromas that would otherwise go to waste to create great citrus signature tastes. The company has installed patented SymTrap technology into partners’ fruit processing factories. This captures the tasty aroma building blocks from water side streams which would otherwise go to waste. “In this way, we rescue their waste volume while opening up another source of income to our partners and their associated farmers – a true win-win situation,” McLean points out.

In the land of citrus

South Africa produces a wide variety of citrus fruit like oranges, mandarins, lemons and different grapefruit varieties.

The cultivation of especially white grapefruit on the Southern African continent has a long and involved tradition and offers a valuable economic contribution to the regional economy. Loved by consumers and the broader manufacturing industry, it is used specifically in the global food, beverage and cosmetics industry.

Many experts estimate that KwaZulu-Natal will become one of the world’s most important sourcing and processing areas for white grapefruit.

“The unique flavour enriches the palate with a sought-after taste,” McLean exclaims. “South Africa is home to great citrus, yet it is not internationally acclaimed like Brazil, Mexico, Argentina or Spain. It is time for this to change. South African grapefruit has become the new golden benchmark for the global citrus industry, and the passionate people behind it are those who are driving this overdue recognition with us.”

When cultivating grapefruit, there are a number of factors to consider since South Africa has unpredictable rainfall. Only about one-eighth of its land is suitable for field cultivation where precipitation alone ensures water supply. Additional water supply plays an important role in agriculture in general and also in the cultivation of the fruit. KwaZulu-Natal is a positive exception. With its humid, subtropical climate, some farmers used to even manage without additional water supply. Grapefruit grow on particularly heat-tolerant evergreen trees.

SUPPORTING ZULU COMMUNITIES

Symrise cooperates with the Nkwaleni Processors in KwaZulu-Natal. Nine large scale and many small-scale farmers have joined forces in this cooperative. The major ethnic group of the region is Zulu and young men and women look for work as a basis to secure their future.

Symrise supplier Klaus Boecker GmbH operates the citrus fruit factory in the form of a 50% joint venture with the farmers and the Zulu community, represented by a tribal chair.

The factory can supply 50 000 tonnes of processed citrus fruit per year and specialises in grapefruit. Symrise and Boecker work together in two ways: by buying the factory’s produce and jointly helping communities and farmers. Training is of critical importance as some workers eagerly take the opportunity to earn a living by growing and producing agricultural produce.

Partners aim to set up an agricultural academy that provides participants with knowledge about the latest and most sustainable cultivation practices in order to secure a future.

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

Symrise places great importance on complying with social and sustainability requirements in South Africa and the world.

The same goes for raw ingredient suppliers. In raw ingredient cultivation areas, Symrise employees live as partners and neighbours to the farmers and support the local communities with educational measures.

Symrise engages in the region in many different ways. One such project is to support beekeepers in KwaZulu-Natal since the insects pollinate the flowers and thereby contribute to preserving biodiversity. The company also invests locally in technical equipment at the Nkwaleni Processors factory.

SUSTAINABILITY AT SYMRISE

The group uses thousands of raw materials globally and price, quality and availability have a strong business impact. “We have set ourselves a goal of sourcing all raw materials in such a way that it minimises the impact on the environment.

It has evaluated 90% of all the company’s main suppliers, who represent 80% of the purchasing volume, according to sustainability criteria. Our commitment does not come with a best before date. We are in this for the long run. This is reflected in our programmes like educating upcoming farmers, joining with Nkwaleni Processors and GIZ,”McLean concludes. •