The South African Table Grape Industry (Sati) has announced that AJ Griesel has been appointed as the new chief executive of the organisation and would take over the reins in the new year.
This follows the retirement of Willem Bestbier from the position that was announced in May. Bestbier would support AJ until a smooth and complete handover had been realised, Sati said.
Sati said Griesel is well-known in the agricultural sector, and possessed broad experience in primary and commercial agriculture, having served and led in senior positions for several years. He had been working at Kaap Agri Limited since 2014 and was in the position of Director: Trade and Services at Kaap Agri Bedryf, since 2018.
Sati Chairman Anton Viljoen, said that this industry was entering a challenging era where it had to compete successfully with a quality product in world markets.
“We are thankful to have AJ on board and I believe that our industry will welcome and support him,” said Viljoen. He said he believed that Griesel will bring a commercial urgency to the table, which was required.
Releasing the fourth Crop Estimate for the 2020/2021 season, in March, Sati said the the season’s intake volumes increased to between 67.2 million and 70.9 million cartons (4.5 kg equivalent) due to the earliest two regions concluding their packing and ongoing favourable harvest conditions in the three Western Cape grower regions.
New plantings of higher yielding cultivars that came into full production also contributed to the increased intake volumes.
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