Stone Fruit
Straight from the Farm
History
The farm is situated in a valley surrounded by the beautiful Waterberg Mountains with crystal clear water. The farm was in the family since 1959 and the main farming activity was groundnuts and seed maize till 1980. In the early eighties citrus trees (Lemons and Navels) were planted and the first stone fruit trees were planted in 1987. The stone fruit count up to 98ha in 2014.
The climate is unique because it is a summer rainfall area with a shorter winter and it does not get extremely cold. We specialise in the early season fruit. Our first fruit mature at week 38. The earliest for stone fruit in South Africa. Nearly every year our harvest is done before the peak rain season, starting the end of November.
Our fruit has a reputation of very good colour, high Brix levels and a good eating experience.
Our Mission
Quality: It’s not the quantity that counts for us but the quality of our fruit. It’s not only the number of people buying our fruit that counts, but also the number of people coming back for the second and third time!
Ongoing renewal of cultivars:
Every year new varieties are planted. Bufland Agri has a close relationship with various specialists. Research work by the ARC (Agricultural Research Council) is an ongoing process on this farm. We are always looking for new and better cultivars. And for a continuous supply to our clients.
Social Accountability:
To create a pleasant and happy working place for all our employees (±180). To invest in our employees through training. We believe in motivation and training of our work force. Written guidelines and training enable us to maintain the highest quality standards.
To pay salaries higher than the National minimum wage.
To employ only South African citizens.
To employ women on a fulltime basis and in senior positions.
To employ no child labour or any labour under the age of 18.
To provide a HIV/AIDS Program with education and treatment if necessary.
To provide a clinic with health workers on the farm.
To have a mobile clinic service that visit the farm on a monthly basis
Objectives
Biological Farming
At Bufland we are developing production techniques that respect the environment, and are sustainable in the long term, so that we can preserve our land but produce at the same time good quality fruit for the consumer. We would like to point out our strict production regulations (SOP) on minimising the amount of synthetic chemical substances used to feed and to protect the plant. Organic fertilisation in the form of compost plays an important role because it gives the soil an overall good level of fertility. All compost making takes place on the farm. We take Integrated Pest Management (IPM) seriously and use every year less chemicals. Our fruit can be taken as residue free.
Water
Our water is mostly spring water that originates higher up in the Waterberg Mountains and this water is crystal clear without any form of pollution. Water tests have been done underlying our high quality water.
Soil
The mainfarm (3000 ha) has a variety of soils. This gives us the opportunity to match every variety/rootstock combination with the most suitable soil in the right microclimate on the farm
Production
Our production objective is to produce the fruit the market requires. That means that every aspect of production such as fertilizing, irrigation, pruning, thinning, and pest control, etc is focused on the production of high quality fruit that is big in size, good in colour with a great eating experience and free of any residues. Our biological approach on production is of corner stones in our strive for saver fruit.
Quality is the key word. The farm is GLOBALG.A.P. certified witch demonstrates the care we have shown for our fruit and our continuing aims to satisfy our buyers and consumers. This quality assurance is to serve the customer better by guaranteeing the shelf life of our product. We find great satisfaction in the spontaneous praise of our clients.
Harvesting, at Bufland is taking place at optimum maturity. To achieve this, the people who harvest the fruit are specially trained to pick entirely tree-ripened fruit, on a daily basis from the orchards, by hand. The whole packing process from picking in the orchard to refrigeration lasts 8 hours at the most. Keeping the cold chain undisturbed creates excellent conditions and therefore our pack house is always hygienically clean and packing is done according to high sanitary conditions.
Continuous quality control is in place to make sure our clients receive fruit according to their specifications.
Our Pack House is situated on our farm. We are always busy to renew and expand our pack house to create better facilities.
Cooling facilities
We have cooling facilities next to the pack house. This enables us to start the cooling process immediately after packing. Forced cooling makes it possible to extract heat and cool the product down to 0ºC within 12 to 18 hours. The facility can do 60 pallets/day.
Independent Inspection
The Perishable Products Export Control Board is South Africa’s statutory body with responsibility for quality standards. Inspections are done on a daily basis on our farm. Our track record is clean and less than 1% of our fruit get rejected after leaving the farm.
Transport
Transport to the airport and markets take place with our own trucks each night. The cold fruit, covered with ‘socks’, guarantee an unbreakable cold chain. Within 2-3 hours time the fruit is delivered to Johannesburg International Airport. We aim to airfreight all our fruit to the UK/EU. Our sole export agent and service provider is Agrilink (Pty) Ltd situated at O.R. Tambo International Airport in a new special designed and airfreight export facility.
Purchase any of our products today and bring the freshness of Bufland Agri right to your home.