Can you say you represent this country loudly and proudly?
How many of your friends and family make a conscious effort to buy local? Do you believe in the quality of local?
These are the questions that not only Proudly South African is addressing but SA Tourism and Brand South Africa as well.
September is Tourism month and this year’s focus is on KwaZulu-Natal.The majestic views of the Zulu nation can be taken in from Umlazi to Umdloti.
Proudly SA hosted media on a trip through the scenic and historical towns of the province.
A short flight down to King Shaka International Airport was the beginning of an informative and enriching two days.
One of the visits that stood out the most was to Cappeny Estates, the only commercial strawberry farm in Ballito.
The 17-hectare farm was built from scratch by the Gumedes, first generation farmers.
Yoliswa and Xolani Gumede are the proud owners of the only commercial strawberry farm in Ballito- Cappeny Estates.
Husband and wife team Xolani and Yoliswa Gumede started building in 2013 but had the idea long before that.
“We started to research in 2010 because we both weren’t farmers, let alone strawberry farmers.
It was important for us to start with research, it was in the beginning about fact finding and reading about property.”
Initially their plan wasn’t to go into farming. They were just looking for property to own.
“We told ourselves we don't want to miss the opportunity in Ballito so that's how the idea started. Then it was ‘what to do with the land?’. We needed to go and see what people were doing out there. “If you want to create something that hasn’t been done before or done in a specific area, you want to benchmark yourself against the best.”
After traveling with Trade and Investment KZN, they saw the best berries in Israel, the best roses in Kenya and eventually ticked all the boxes until they were left with strawberries.
“That’s how the farm came about. As romantic as it sounds we didn’t wake up saying we love strawberries so much and we want to grow them.
Yoliswa added that farming forced them to think far ahead.
“We had to think of what would be there when we are gone. How will people enjoy shade, so we put up trees and now we have a hall we recently built and there is a dam at the top o f the farm as well.”
Under production on the farm is 8.5 hectares. In 2013, they put the first plants in the ground and that was four hectares.
Cappeny Estates is KwaZulu-Natal’s newest and arguably its most popular hydroponic strawberry farm. Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture, which is a method of growing plants without soil by using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent.
“We had always been in business but nothing in farming so we needed to make sure we minimise risk so we went into under tunnel where the pest pressure is less and into bags as much as it is still scientific it is not as risky as the science of soil. The standard size of strawberry farms around the world is about 10 hectares.It is not a big industry- very controlled, a lot of intellectual property around plants and the rights surrounded by plants,” said Yoliswa.
The heart-shaped strawberries that are picked on the farm are juicy and red. Picture: Mpiletso Motumi
The strawberries consumers buy from the shelves of the supermarkets are not originally how strawberries grow or look.
“A wild strawberry is not even the size of a 50 cent coin. They grow a lot of them in Iran, they are not very sweet or commercially appealing. To get to the heart-shaped strawberries on the shelf is a long lab process- one that is protected. So you need to make sure the crop does not fail.”
Yoliswa said there were over 1000 varieties of strawberries and it was a difficult crop to grow.
“As first generation farmers it was a huge investment for us to get into commercial farming. Crop is sensitive and fragile and requires expertise as it is a high value crop. Today we supply all the retailers - biggest customer is Freshmark group which is Checkers and Shoprite. We supply to all the retailer as they come wanting strawberries. We don’t do long term growing programmes, we still need to take it season by season,” she said.
Journalists pick strawberries on the 17-hectare land of Cappeny Estates, KZN’s most popular hydroponic strawberry farm
They have also started growing alternative crops that harvest during alternative seasons so in the down time of the strawberries, they harvest papaya and Italian sweet pepper.
“We have a multi purpose venue to diversify income in farming. Our fierce competitor is Mother Nature and she is ruthless. You learn to work with her.This region is gaining traction. Our priority as a farm has always been business before farming. We are not farmers in business, we are a business in farming.”
The Gumede’s have also launched a natural strawberry leather (dried strawberries), strawberry granola, and have added an African twist to their jams by infusing them with rooibos.
Cappeny Estates makes their own granola strawberry, strawberry leather and African Rooibos infused jams. Picture: Supplied
“Our mindset is business first and foremost and everything else must feed to that goal.
The couple employs 28 permanent staff and has seasonal staff that they employ and train to learn how to plant.
SA Tourism, Brand South Africa and Proudly South African have formed a tripartite to help increase domestic tourism and push for local is lekker across all spheres.
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