Another farm in the stable ( Friday 08 May 2009 )

Through its associate company Rapiprop, the Capespan Group has purchased the beautiful Queen Anne farm in the Vyeboom district, Western Cape.

"To stabilise and ensure our RSA volumes, Capespan's initiatives to step up production involvement are developing well with this latest purchase," said Capespan managing director Neil Oosthuizen.

Last year, Capespan purchased Applethwaite in the Western Cape's Grabouw district. Brian Mackinnon, managing director of Rapiprop, said the Queen Anne management would essentially stay as is, but would fall under Applethwaite supervision. The 35 permanent employees and 100 seasonal workers will be retained.

A hundred hectares are planted with apples and pears in a 65:35 split respectively. In addition to supplying the local market, the farm annually exports between 250 000 and 280 000 cartons to the European and UK markets.

"It's a first-class farm with a good cultivar mix. What's more, all the orchards are quite young. So, we hope it will make a positive contribution to Rapiprop's performance," said Mackinnon.

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