About Us
Vegetables & Fruit Magazine
The first edition of Vegetables & Fruit appeared as SA Groenteboer in March / April 1988. In the foreword of this edition, Vito Rugani, well-known vegetable producer and chairman of the then National Vegetable Committee, said that publishing such a magazine is a milestone in the development of South Africa’s vegetable industry.
Three decades ago, vegetables were the only agricultural commodity that was dependent solely on a free-market system. Competition in the vegetable market was fierce and the vegetable producer who wanted to farm successfully had to be a professional entrepreneur. A magazine with valuable technical and agricultural economic information to these producers was therefore appropriate for the time.
Since 1988
For suppliers to the vegetable producer, a specialist magazine for the industry was and still is a valuable tool in their annual marketing strategy.
Contributors to the magazine included Chris Bezuidenhout from the Research Institute for vegetables and ornamental plants at Roodeplaat Horticulture Association, the then SA Agricultural Union’s Horticultural Manager, and Philip Theunissen, an agricultural economist.
From the very first issue, the latest market trends were regularly provided by the Marco Company. After a poll in 1995, readers indicated that there was a huge demand for a column in which the different agricultural markets and trends were analysed. In April 1996, the first of Prof Johan Willemse’s regular columns titled Markets and Opinions appeared. It was written by himself and Cor Meintjies from Agrimark Trends.
Vegetables & Fruit still strives to serve the vegetable and fruit industry with the latest research…
…market trends and product information. Adapting to the ‘new normal’ caused by COVID-19, Vegetables & Fruit attended online events such as the PMA Fresh Summit and various industry events. Amidst many negative impacts, the South African agricultural sector is a shining light in the economy and the horticultural sector plays a major role in this regard.
With the inclusion of fruit, information and news about all types of fruit regularly filled a large part of the magazine.
In the August / September issue of 2001, the Mango Growers’ Association launches their regular newsletter. Since then, the magazine has served the fruit industry with regular technical information.
From the very first edition, producers were kept up to date with the latest developments in the vegetable industry with breaking news and the latest research. An article about plant breeders in the first edition mentions the use of “plant breeding to facilitate or eliminate chemical weed control”, which attracted worldwide attention. The June / July issue of 1988 announces the first plans for the development of the Agricultural Research Council.
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Contact us
011 476 3702
018 293 0622
Operating hours
08:00 – 17:00
Offices
17 Clark street, Potchefstroom
Suit 108, MISA Centre, 12 Fir Drive, Northcliff 2195