Right: Sango Singaga and Emmaculate Malashe at Fruit Logistica, 2026
“The powders remain natural because we do not use any additives; it is the real fruit, except it is more concentrated than the actual fruit because the water is removed and only the benefits of the fruit remain. Surprisingly,” Malashe adds, “they have a high fibre content.”
The fruit powders are getting traction, she says, with much interest from Germany, and the first shipment there is in process (in the process or in progress). Some food manufacturers in Ghana already use the food powder, whose full offering is guavas, bananas, avocados, blueberries and strawberries.
Their banana powder is the only one that is organically certified, but the rest are grown organically but not organically certified.
Tropical fruit procurement
The other string to the Mafube Fresh bow is as an exclusive tropical fruit supplier to high-end retailer Woolworths, a South African retailer leading the way in its stringent sustainable farming requirements. Mafube Fresh procures cherries, figs, guavas, granadilla and litchis from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
“Woolworths is our main customer, and they make all our efforts worthwhile by marketing and creating shelf space for the products to be available in each one of their stores, for the end consumer’s convenience,” says Sango Singaga, Mafube’s quality manager.
Figs, which they procure from January to the end of April, contribute a third of their turnover. Citrus is a growing product line; we service our wholesale market with lemons, limes and oranges.
Local litchi market benefited from external shocks
Malashe remarks that they had had an incredible litchi season. “The crop was good in terms of availability, quality and price. Our champion 1kg litchi performed exceptionally well last season, and it is growing bigger year on year. The external factors (trade war) worked in our favour as it limited exportation, creating an oversupply locally, which pushed the prices down, making litchis accessible to more customers.
“We give all the gratitude to our growers who continue to support our business season after season; even in bad seasons they remain loyal.”
Climate complicates planning
She observes that an ever-changing climate threatens the industry, with significant production challenges that affect the harvest volumes, quality and timing. “Planning under these conditions has become extremely difficult; it is no longer easy to predict when a certain product will be available in store.”
The recent storms in the Cape affected their winter crop drastically and have reduced the guava harvest by 40%. The Cape winter hasn’t been cold enough thus far, she notes. “This will affect the summer season negatively, but we hope for the best.
As the season continues, forecasting remains unpredictable. The resilient nature of fresh produce professionals is what keeps the industry going under these challenging circumstances; we remain focused on ensuring there is produce daily on the shelves for our customers.”
For more information:
Emmaculate Malashe
Mafube Fresh
+27 82 772 8968 | +27 21 808 1600
emmaculate@mafubefoods.co.za
www.mafubefoods.co.za
https://nalafoodpowders.com/