MD Charl du Bois tells Lucentlands how a new joint venture ownership model will help it achieve further growth.
Capespan managing director Charl du Bois has provided more detail about the South Africa group’s renewed commercial partnership with Namibia Grape Company (NGC).
As reported in early November, the exporter has extended its joint venture contract with NGC by 20 years.
In an interview with the Lucentlands Podcast, Du Bois explained that the agreement would in fact start in 2027 and therefore last until 2047, not 2045 as earlier stated.
He also explained how the new ownership model would see NGC directly involved in the venture’s profit and loss, something which they were not previously.
According to Du Bois, Capespan has seen good progress thanks to its own investments in the Namibian grape business over the past two decades.
“We’ve helped develop the farm over the past 20 years by planting an additional 115ha,” he said. “We’ve upgraded the cold rooms. We’ve put up a really big pipeline and pumping stations, which are obviously very necessary. So we’ve spent a lot of capital.”
He continued: “When we got involved initially, they were packing 1.4mn cartons. Today, in the previous season, we actually packed 2.4mn boxes off the same operation. That’s a 71 per cent increase in yield.”
The potential for Namibia to bolster southern Africa’s supply into Europe, at more or less the same time as Peru is active in the market, remained very strong, he added.
The full interview is available to view below or at youtube.com/@lucentlands
