The landscape of the South African avocado and macadamia industry is in a state of uncomfortable upheaval, with local growers and tree nurseries scrambling to adjust and adapt to the present market disruption. One thing is certain, however, and that is the need for industry players to step away from what they know and to reach for new ideas. What got us here will not get us there and industry players must be future focused not just to compete but to thrive. “‘Specialise and go big’ sums up our view of the future of agriculture” says Mark Hassenkamp CEO of South African based RedSun Hortitech.
“That, and utilising cutting edge DigiTech to bring agriculture into the next century and give it the ability to meet the exponential need not just for food, but food with sustainability provenance.”
RedSun Hortitech has grasped the infinite possibilities of AgriTech in the sector and have partnered with Switzerland-based Blue Horizon, a global, mission-driven private sector impact investor focused on achieving systemic change to our global food system. Blue Horizon defines their vision simply, “We’re not looking for the next best thing. We’re looking for those things that change everything”, creating an exciting synergy with RedSun’s vision to further contribute towards successful farmers working within the global transition to sustainable food and agriculture.
Currently, there are rapid changes in macadamia and avocado markets and origins, and while in South Africa macadamias and avocados reconfigure to find international competitiveness and stability, the changes have provided exciting potential for the international stage. RedSun has eagerly grasped opportunities presented in accessing new export markets across Africa and the rest of the world. These new territories are developing agriculture projects at scale to achieve supply chain competitiveness serving diverse global markets; by diversifying our traditional customer base, RedSun has insured against local risk. In addition, these new territories offer new industry insights and attract global skills with unique opportunities to skilled South African professionals and suppliers interested in international opportunities in agriculture. Interestingly, these new export markets are quick adopters of innovative AgriTech water, soil and crop management technologies as well as taking on only proven crop genetics and management practices normally discovered over years.
At RedSun we believe that sustainable and efficient future food supply chains cannot be achieved without successful farmers driving the shift change to focus on cutting edge digital technology. The future of sustainable agriculture and competitive food is to be found in achieving scale and quick adoption of AgriTech advantages. This technology provides significant improved access to crop management information and real-time decision-making ability on the farm to realise the potential of excellent genetics to improve yield and quality at lower unit costs.
From RedSun’s perspective, having access to ground-breaking Agri and digital cropping technology advances and supplying excellent trees to new growers in new countries unlocks unparalleled opportunities to expand into new macadamia and avocado territories, supporting farmers to drive the global transition to sustainable food and agriculture outcomes.
Please visit their website at www.redsunhort.co.za for additional info. Inquiries may be directed to the office telephone at +27 (0)64 957 2171 between the hours of 07:00 and 16:30, Monday through Friday (the office is closed on public holidays).
