Balancing risk to build a table grape brand

When the Beukes brothers expanded their table grape farming operation from the Hex River Valley to Brandwacht near Worcester in the Western Cape, they had no idea of the challenges this would bring. Jacques Beukes shared some of the lessons they learnt with Wouter Kriel.

- Jacques Beukes

We know how to farm table grapes in the Hex River Valley. Our family has been doing it since 1913!” says Jacques Beukes, as he sits in the boardroom of the packhouse on Modderdrift farm in Brandwacht, on the outskirts of Worcester.

Modderdrift is a relatively new acquisition: Beukes and his brother Eugene bought it in 2016 simply to increase the size of their operation. Very soon, however, they faced a series of unexpected problems, each of which had to be faced and solved.

“We bought the farm and embarked on developing it in a similar way that works for us in the Hex River Valley. But although they’re less than an hour’s drive apart, the two locations are very different, and we had to adapt,” admits Beukes.

As they had the opportunity to establish new vineyards here, they wanted a new cultivar that would give them a competitive edge. After a study trip to the US, where they looked at all the latest cultivars, they decided on Sweet Sapphire.

“We were excited about the unique presentation, fertility and excellent taste it offered,” recalls Beukes.

The brothers duly carried out pilot plantings of Sweet Sapphire in the Hex River Valley and the results proved promising. So, in 2017 they planted 20ha to the cultivar as part of the 60ha under table grapes on Modderdrift. Unfortunately, problems emerged almost from the start.

“We faced two challenges in Brandwacht: wind, and [the limitations of] the Sweet Sapphire.”

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