The world’s first citrus facility that simultaneously serves as a warehouse, cold storage and container depot was recently officially opened in the Eastern Cape.
“This type of development is essential if the industry wants to achieve Vision 260 (the sustainable export of 260 million cartons by 2032),” said Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association, in his weekly newsletter.
The Coega Fruit Terminal – the world’s first fully integrated fruit storage facility built by the Lona group and its subsidiary KHold – was recently officially opened in the Coega Special Economic Zone outside Coega Port near Gqeberha.
The Coega Port is a major export point for citrus grown in the Eastern Cape, which has a significant number of lemon and mandarin orchards that are less than five years old.
“With the Eastern Cape orchards coming into production over the next five years, the export infrastructure in the Eastern Cape will come under significant capacity. Investments like these will alleviate that pressure,” Chadwick said.
The layout of the packing area and offices is excellent, he said, with a view of the packing area from the first floor.
“The cold storage rooms are well designed, with direct loading into containers, which can then be placed in the adjacent container depot, just a stone’s throw from the container terminal.”
According to KHold, the facility incorporates the latest technology. And because loading, stacking and stuffing of 240 refrigerated containers happen on one site, the cold chain is more efficient. This ensures a more seamless export process.
The facility covers 16 000 square metres where fruit can be packed for the local and import/export markets. The latest automated packing equipment is in use, and there is a degreening facility, packing lines for local markets, and custom-made pallet cold storage rooms.
The terminal can handle 8 000 pallets at a time and has individual temperature-controlled cells, where as few as 40 pallets can be cooled for small shipments in a short period.
According to the Unlimited group, one of Lona’s subsidiaries, about 40 000 cartons can be packed in the facility daily, with 3 million cartons packed per season. The facility has two lines, allowing for the simultaneous packing of organic and regular citrus.
The container depot offers services for the inspection, maintenance, repair and specialised preparation of refrigerated containers, optimising the availability of the correct equipment when fruit is received and cooled at the facility.
