UPDATE
PAG meeting notes: August 2026
New Postharvest & PAG website and downloads
The new Postharvest/PAG website can be found here: https://postharvest.hortgro.co.za/
Alternatively, visit the Hortgro website www.hortgro.co.za and find PAG/Postharvest website on the Home Page under Quick Links, or go to the Science and Tech Hub, click on Packhouse Action Group/App. The Postharvest website will be displayed. Click on Packhouse Action Group and select the appropriate discipline e.g. Logistics, Communication, etc.
New PAG Downloads (16 February – 20 July 2026) Contact: E Steenkamp
‘Cripps’ Pink’ internal browning and long-term storage – H Tayler, E Crouch, D Viljoen 3 739
‘Quo Vadis’ – long term CA storage regimes of Cripps’ Pink apples and fruit quality 1 620
PAG Container Utilization – K Bouwer (2017-05-18) 1 001
PAG Water Phase 6 and Energy Phase 3 676
Long-term controlled atmosphere storage techniques on ‘Granny Smith’ apples 672
Document HB28 on PPECB Website Contact: B Henning
Document HB28 has more up to date information than the PPECB Blue Book. For instance, Summer Pear Protocols are included in HB28.
Update on Logistics Chain Efficiencies Contact: J du Preez
Fruit volumes of all fruit kinds to date have increased by 5%. Corresponding volumes at Cape Town port decreased by 4%.
Rubber Tyre Gantries (RTG’s) were not performing optimally in terms of gross container moves per hour (GCH). GCH had improved marginally in 2026, but the self-imposed target of 19 GCH, compared to the international benchmark of 25 GCH, has only been reached once. Equipment is not operating optimally.
The private sector can lease multi service terminals but not the container terminal.
New EU PPWR (Paper & Packaging Waste Regulations) Contact: N Baignath-Pillay
Our Industry Communicates – Questionnaire on EU PPWR
The level of readiness and the specific hurdles identified vary heavily across operations, with some already removing plastic liner bags from bulk packaging. The key concerns with regulations are that the EU Retailers must be more involved in navigating these changes and there is a strong concern over increased food waste and degraded fruit quality if alternative packaging materials fail to protect products adequately during transit. Furthermore, new temperature-controlled storage is required to separate and manage packaging with liners versus non-liner packaging. We need a concise summary of regulations and compliance requirements specifically tailored for the upcoming season. Regarding technical documentation: some do not maintain the necessary technical packaging documentation.
EU PPWR – Hortgro-COLEAD Engagements
In June, we hosted COLEAD as they explored our challenges and readiness to comply with the 12 Aug deadline. We requested COLEAD to give a presentation to our packhouses. Subsequently, we translated parts of that presentation into Afrikaans to guide our industry. Hortgro and COLEAD also presented with the EU Commission on our industry perspectives, readiness, and challenges. COLEAD met with FSA and visited TruCape . Good engagements were held with SAPRO, MyPlas,
ACEN (Africa Circular Economy Network). Read the article Hortgro and Colead collaborate on EU Packaging Regulations Requirements
The presentation (Afrikaans) is online as our EU PPWR webinar (45MINS) – timelines, templates and guidelines: Watch Here.
CA Engineer’s Webinar 3 June 2026 Contact: R Hurndall
The following four presentations made at this event are:
- Tilt up, the Future of Sustainable Industrial Building – Evert & Neal Lategan, Eco Cast Tilt up
- Smaller Tools, Bigger Questions: Rethinking CA Research for Industry Use – Josh Kreft, Gas-at-Site Smaller Tools, Bigger Questions
- Comparison Between Ammonia and CO₂ Refrigeration Systems – Gian Loreti, MRE CO2-vs-NH3.pdf
- The AI Revolution: What comes next for Engineers and Operators? – Josh Kreft, Gas-at-Site
The AI Revolution: What comes next for Engineers and Operators?
Market Access Feedback Contact: J du Preez
Mexico: Cartons delivered in 2026 were 94 000 compared to 67 000 in 2025.
Taiwan: The Taiwan apple export market remains suspended, mainly due to political reasons.
Brazil: The industry is awaiting draft proposals and hoped to have this for apples by the year end.
Philippines: The industry is awaiting draft proposals for apples and pears
General: These programmes are becoming more expensive, and levies do not always cover their costs.
PAG Disciplines and Coordinators
Please get in touch with the relevant person below if you have any queries regarding the PAG.
Chairman – Koos Bouwer (bouweb@orangenet.co.za)
Engineering – Henk Ryke (henk@tad.co.za), Koos Bouwer (bouweb@orangenet.co.za)
Packaging – Bryce MacIntyre (bryce.macintyre@gmail.com)
Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) – Nitasha Baijnath-Pillay (nitasha@hortgro.co.za)
Environmental Footprint – Eddie Vienings (eddie@bluenorth.co.za) /Cari van Coller (cari@bluenorth.co.za)
Packhouse Large – Francois Malan (francois.malan@cfg.co.za) / Wardo Conradie (wardoc@dutoit.com) / Chris Petzer (crisp@tad.co.za) / Fanie Grundlingh (fanieg@lanko.co.za)
Packhouse Small – Hendrik Claassen (hendrik@bellafrutta.co.za), Thinus Loock (thinus@jjlooch.co.za)
Post-Harvest Quality – Dr Mariana Jooste (mariana@hortgro.co.za) / Dr Elke Crouch (elke@sun.ac.za) / Henk Griessel (henkg@tru-cape.co.za) / Jaco Moelich (jaco.moelich@fruitways.co.za) / Elri van der Merwe (elrivdm@tru-cape.co.za) / Braam Mouton (braamm@dutoit.com)
Logistics – Johan Strydom (pslog@mweb.co.za)
Communication Strategy – Koos Bouwer (bouweb@orangenet.co.za) / Elise-Marie Steenkamp (elise-marie@hortgro.co.za)
PPECB – Bernardus Henning (bernardush@ppecb.com)
FPEF – Werner van Rooyen (werner@fpef.co.za)
NDA – Director: Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Billy Makhafola, (BillyM@nda.gov.za)
NDA – Regional Manager: NPPPIS WC Directorate: Inspection Services, Gcobani Tsako (gcobani@nda.gov.za)
Hortgro – Jacques du Preez (jacques@hortgro.co.za), Lindi Benic (lindi@hortgro.co.za)
Research – Prof Wiehann Steyn (wiehann@hortgro.co.za)
SIZA – Werner van Dyk (werner@siza.co.za)