Food Forward Witzenberg - Project | 110% Green

The fourth Food Forward project food waste tour was run on the 4th of December 2014 to the Witzenberg region. The participating individuals included delegates from Cape Town organisations such as the Woolworths, Greencape, Enviroserv, the Western Cape Fine Food Initiative (WCFFI), as well as delegates from the Western Cape Government Department of Economic Development and Tourism (Green Economy).

The tour began at Willow Creek Olive Farm near Worcester, where the group learnt all about olive growing, olive oil extraction and olive processing for bottling. It was revealed that the weather is major factor in harvest quantity and quality, where too much rain can significantly affect the amount of extractable oil and olive harvest. Similarly, the harvest window is extremely crucial to the yield quantity since not all olives ripen at the same time. Wastages are greatest in periods of high levels of wind and rain. Once the oil is extracted, pips and pulp are separated and dried, and fed into a grinder to make compost. The industry appears to use a good mix of labour and mechanisation, providing a decent amount of jobs but still managing to be quite efficient in their production.

At Source dried fruit was the next stop, where the group learnt all about the packaging and processing of dried fruit and nut roasting. In a nutshell, fruit is cut and dried at a farm level and sprayed with sulphur dioxide. This overly desiccated product is then sold and sent to facilities like At Source, who then wash the fruit (and thus partially rehydrate it to the correct moisture content) and test it to make sure that is has the correct level of preservative. Blemishes are then cut off and damaged fruit is removed (which is then made into animal feed, and is less than 1% of the total throughput), and cleaned and sorted fruit is packed and labelled for their home brand and retailer buyers.

The last visit of the tour was to the Klondyke Cherry farm. Here the group was given to chance to pick their own cherries from the trees, while learning all about the cherry industry. Cherries it seems, are also very dependent on the weather, and are quite sensitive to irregular temperature fluctuations, as well as frost. Some farmers are said to keep their plantations wet in the really cold periods, to slightly raise the ambient temperature and reduce ice forming. Economics also plays a role, and the majority of the cherry picking is done in a certain window where there is the maximum harvest potential. On the Klondyke farm specifically, a lot if picking is done by tourists for their own consumption, who help to keep the whole operation viable. In general, cherries are a difficult product to grow, requiring chemical spraying and a large amount of care and attention. There is a decent amount of product loss, but this is again said to be largely sent away for animal feed.

Overall, the Witzenberg tour was short but very sweet. The facility by-products are either already being utilised, sent away as animal feed, or in the process of new product development. Therefore, little waste appears to be produced, however, it is difficult to quantify and qualify this without further in-depth studies and waste audits. Keep following the Food Forward project for news on the next tour. Next stop Cape Town!