The Produce Marketing Association is a key international trade organisation representing companies from every segment of the global fresh produce and floral supply chain. The PMA helps members grow by providing connections that expand business opportunities and increase sales and consumption. Its mission is to connect, inform and deliver industry solutions to enhance its members’ prosperity.

Each month, we will be focusing on a major area of South African fresh produce and discussing that all with the country’s key industry experts so we can learn and appreciate fantastic South African Fresh Produce. This month it's Dragon fruit!

Dragon fruit is a very large, mostly red-skinned scaly fruit produced by a fast-growing trailing cactus. Dragon Fruit Farming is a relatively young industry in South Africa, local dragon fruit farms show huge potential to deliver substantial amounts of fruit to northern hemisphere markets.

The South African dragon fruit industry is mainly based on the red-skinned varieties with the pink-fleshed fruit being the most popular. Dragon fruit prefers a warm subtropical climate, and is successfully grown in areas where avocados and macadamia nuts are cultivated, and is harvested from around December-January to April-May.

We will discuss this rapidly growing industry and its development across the Western Cape and up to Zambia.

On the panel we will be speaking to several leading experts on the South African Dragon Fruit Industry including:

Fred Steyn, newly appointed Chair of the Southern Africa Dragon Fruit Association

CT van der Merwe, CEO of AL 3 Boerdery

Laura Strever

Jason Sampson

Michael Muller