Year 11 Business Trip

The Year 11 Business Studies trip took place on Wednesday the 6th of March, and entailed a visit to a Fruitways factory in Glen Elgin as well as a short trip to Oak Valley Estate, the largest flower producer in the Western Cape, to gain further insight into the general production process.

Accompanied by Mr Moore and Mrs Bennet, our journey began with high energy as we drove out an hour and a half to Elgin, the scenery as magnificent as ever. We arrived at Fruitways and under the guidance of our lovely guide Yanga, were able to experience a wonderful and extremely detailed tour of the production process of apples. After slipping on our coats, headpieces, and gloves, we were led through each step of the production process.

Firstly, apples from the orchard undergo a ‘drench operation’, where they’re rinsed with water at two different stations for around 15 minutes. Following this, we were led to a station where ripe checking is undergone. Yanga explained that the different quality levels of apples were to be checked and made sure they were of the client’s specification, as well as take into account the market the apples were to be delivered to, before continuing with the production process. Using an FTA, or fruit texture analyzer, the pressure of the apple is checked, along with the starch levels to determine ripeness and size. If any apple does not meet any set standard, it is passed along to the juice facility. And yes, that does go into the Appletisers we all know and love.

Our next stop was the juice facility, though we navigated the storage unit on our way there. It was stacked with boxes upon boxes and more packaging than I’m sure any of us had ever seen in one place. All crates were only ever held for up to 2 weeks to maximise the usage of space and keep a continuous cash flow. We were shown the storage of the different packaging each market requires before being led to the juice facility.

The juice facility smelt sour. This was where the apples that were too ripe, not the correct size, had any visible deformations or had incorrect pressure were taken to be used. Yanga described it as Fruitway’s ‘side hustle’, as the juicing facility contributed to the makings of Appletiser and other apple juice drinks. Yanga then led us to logistics, where the apples were stored in large fridges that could hold between 700-1400 crates per fridge! They were incredibly cold, being able to store apples for up to a whole 6 months.

We dodged and weaved past forklifts moving through logistics before finding our way to pre- sorting, a point in the process where all apples were sorted by size into groups, then checked by AI technology in lines for colour or any visual deformities. Rows of flumes sorted the apples by size, stretching about the factory, with workers manually removing any apples that qualified for the juice facility.

Next up was Yanga’s section he was in charge of: packaging. On the day we went, however, packaging was not at work due to problems with the harbour, so no apples were packaged. Between 1000-1500 cardboard boxes were made and used in packaging a day. These packages are then checked by quality control as a last step to either be rejected and undergo the entire process again or be approved to be shipped to wherever they need to go.

Following our long and detailed tour, we made a very quick stop at Oak Valley Estate, a flower producer that was founded in 1978 originally as a tomato farm. They had about 32 different varieties of flowers, producing 3000-5000 bouquets per day, sometimes 8000-10000 on holiday occasions. We were shown around the facility, which smelt incredibly good, viewing the cooler rooms, one filled with chrysanthemums and another with seasonal flowers, that stored the flowers to be delivered and spaces where the bouquets were assembled, following recipes supplied by the clients. To end the tour, we were led through one of the greenhouses, being able to see where the flowers were grown and learn about the planting part of the process.

To end our wonderful tour, we stopped at Peregrine’s (Much to many’s joy, most definitely a highlight!) and belted karaoke in the traffic on our way home. It was an enriching experience and one we surely won’t forget!

– Georgia

Photos by Kiara and Amina