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Amid tightening global market trends and requirements for export standards, the South African table grape industry is reorienting its efforts toward strategic execution at every stage of the value chain.

This thesis was presented at a recent commodity conference, where Mecia Petersen, CEO of the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI), outlined a roadmap for sector development. While acknowledging South Africa's significant legacy as a leading global supplier supporting thousands of jobs, Petersen emphasized that long-term sustainability depends on active innovation and collaborative action.

She stated: 'This is not something any one of us can do alone; it is definitely something we must do in collaboration. We must combine our ideas to achieve success.'

Petersen noted that although Europe remains the primary sales destination for South Africa, industry growth requires a dual approach: protecting existing mature export markets while systematically opening new international trade routes. However, expanding global presence demands faster, data-driven solutions.

To support this transition, SATI is redirecting research priorities to accelerate innovations across the supply chain, focusing particularly on product stability, shelf life quality, and rapid operational adaptation to counter growing competition and logistical disruptions.

International post-harvest experts, Oscar Salgado from AgroFresh and Felipe Ilyanes, translated the high-level strategy into practical field recommendations. They presented high-impact protocols used in competing regions worldwide. Their advice focused on eliminating minor handling errors that can degrade quality before arrival at port.

Key changes in fieldwork and transportation recommended for on-site implementation include:

• Night harvesting: Harvesting during cooler night hours to prevent heat absorption in the field.
• Heat prevention: Removing dark materials around harvested grapes that act as heat traps and spoil delicate fruit.
• Equipment care: Maintaining specialized, sharp secateurs for clean cuts and preventing tissue damage.
• Single-layer handling: Placing bunches in a single layer to avoid compression and bruising.
• Active cold logistics: Transporting fruit in pre-cooled trucks rather than loading chilled fruit onto standard temperature transport platforms.

The conference also discussed common misconceptions regarding temperature management and pre-cooling that lead to premature quality loss. Experts clarified that cold storage rooms and refrigerated transport are intended solely for maintaining temperature, not for cooling hot fruit.

Sessions also covered incorrect assumptions about environments in cold storage and ventilation. Even in a high-quality cold room, the internal temperature is never perfectly uniform or constant, making pallet covers an important tool for protecting fruit from localized temperature spikes.

Furthermore, ventilation requires balance: lower airflow minimizes water loss and dehydration risk, whereas higher airflow is necessary for proper distribution of sulfur dioxide (SO2) treatments across the fruit.

Highlighting the integration of academic research into commercial practice, a group of students from Stellenbosch University and lecturer Alemaehu Tsige presented a report on post-harvest management, packaging, and product quality. Presenting their work, Talente Mpansa demonstrated research showing that transitioning to cultivar-specific packaging can significantly improve cooling efficiency and final product quality.

Mpansa noted: 'Although commercial implementation will require further seasonal validation, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling offers the industry a powerful tool to accelerate packaging development without costly trial-and-error field testing.'

Securing rental housing with a poor credit history can present difficulties, but this does not automatically mean that a potential tenant will be refused a lease agreement. Nevertheless, tenants should be prepared for a credit history check, take steps to improve their credit rating, and understand that landlords may require additional guarantees.

There are several aspects that tenants must consider when applying for a rental if they have a damaged credit record.

When submitting a rental application, the real estate agent is obliged to conduct a credit history check. Potential tenants are advised to honestly and openly disclose their credit history, providing explanations for any negative points. The agent can then pass this information on to the landlord when justifying the rental application.

If you have a poor credit history and are concerned about how it might affect your ability to rent housing, it is recommended to take steps to improve your credit rating. Being able to explain your credit history can help when applying for a rental.

Having a poor credit history does not guarantee that the landlord will refuse you the housing. The rental application, along with supporting information including the applicant's credit history, will be presented to the landlord. The landlord will then decide on granting the lease agreement using their own discretion.

Providing the real estate agent with the most complete information about your credit history will help them present your situation to the landlord.

A poor credit history may lead the landlord to request additional guarantees before agreeing to the lease agreement. If the landlord decides to grant the agreement despite the applicant's poor credit history, they may seek to minimize the perceived risk. This may include requiring a two or three-month deposit instead of the standard one-month damage deposit. Furthermore, the landlord may require a utility deposit. The ability to provide additional guarantees can make a potential tenant more attractive from the landlord's risk perspective.

As gold prices reach record levels, wealthy individuals worldwide are not only buying gold but also changing where they store their assets. Many very affluent people from countries such as Europe, America, and Australia turn to Singapore for the secure offshore storage of their gold.

In Singapore, there is an extremely secure building near the airport known as 'The Reserve.' Although it looks like a luxurious structure on the outside, it houses assets worth billions of dollars inside. This massive vault hall can accommodate about 500 tons of gold, valued at approximately $64 billion. There are numerous reasons why influential people prefer to store their gold specifically in Singapore.

A six-story building is located some distance from Changi Airport in Singapore. Its exterior is adorned with onyx stone, and the entrance is protected by a very strict security system. The gold vault 'The Reserve' is situated in this building. It features both private safes and a huge warehouse section equipped with thousands of deposit slots reaching a height of about three stories.

The value of the gold and silver stored in this facility is estimated at around $1.5 billion. However, this is only part of the treasures held there; the overall capacity of the facility is significantly larger.

It is reported that 'The Reserve' has the potential to store about 500 tons of gold. At current prices, its value could reach $64 billion. Thus, this is not just a place to store the safes of several wealthy individuals; special conditions have been created here to ensure the safety of very large volumes of precious metals. The need for such reliable gold storage increases amid global economic uncertainty and geopolitical situations.

Often, a portion of the wealth of very rich people is represented in the form of physical assets, such as gold. When economic or political instability rises in the market, some investors resort to the strategy of diversifying their assets across different countries. Simply put, if all your assets are in one place, the risk increases if an economic or political problem arises in that region. Therefore, owners of large fortunes often try to place their assets in different locations, leading to the growing popularity of offshore gold storage, meaning storing gold outside one's home country. Singapore is becoming a preferred location in this regard.

Singapore's main strength lies in its political and economic stability. Experts in the gold storage industry refer to Singapore as the 'Eastern Geneva alternative.' This is because the country is perceived as a safe and stable financial center. This is extremely important for wealthy people, as they want to store their gold where there is a relatively low level of concern regarding political instability or sudden major changes. This is why Singapore has transformed from merely a gold storage location into an important financial hub for major global assets.

Another significant advantage of Singapore is its location and transport accessibility. Singapore is one of Asia's key transit hubs, easily accessible from many parts of the world. This means that if a person stores their gold in Singapore and needs to retrieve it or send it elsewhere, international connectivity assists them. According to experts, having a gold vault in a transit hub is very advantageous. Banking services are available here, gold can be stored, and it can be easily retrieved or transferred when necessary.

For a long time, Switzerland was considered one of the leading global locations for gold storage. However, Singapore is now emerging as a strong alternative. Singapore's appeal to the very wealthy is due not only to its security but also to its geographical location, robust financial system, and international connectivity. Just as Switzerland was long known as a safe haven for global assets, Singapore is strengthening its similar role in Asia.

Gold has been regarded as a means of wealth preservation for centuries. It is not a liability of any single company or government, and its value is recognized worldwide. During times of economic crisis, inflation, or geopolitical tension, many investors prefer to hold gold in their portfolio. However, when dealing with large volumes of gold, storing it at home or in a regular bank safe is impractical. This is precisely what creates the need for such highly secured private vaults.

Overall, Singapore's history is built on three pillars: security, stability, and connectivity. On one hand, there is political and economic resilience, and on the other, a reliable banking and financial system.