{"id":854863,"date":"2026-04-12T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=854863"},"modified":"2026-04-10T16:34:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:34:58","slug":"south-africa-sitting-on-a-r3-billion-goldmine-ready-to-be-tapped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/854863\/south-africa-sitting-on-a-r3-billion-goldmine-ready-to-be-tapped\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa sitting on a R3 billion goldmine ready to be tapped"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa aims to establish a multibillion-rand pistachio industry, targeting an annual production of up to 60,000 tonnes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to capture 5\u20138% of the global market within the next decade, positioning the country to become one of the top six or seven pistachio producers in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the recent growers conference in Prieska, Northern Cape, Karoo Pistachios and Fedgroup hosted stakeholders from the agricultural and financial sectors to assess the progress and expansion plans of pistachio production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Global pistachio production is concentrated in northern hemisphere countries, and many of those regions face water constraints, climate pressures or political risks, and that opens up a clear opportunity for us to enter into this market,” Karoo Pistachios CEO David Muller told Moneyweb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muller said the global pistachio market faces constrained supply and rising demand, making the Northern Cape of South Africa an ideal region for cultivating high-quality, premium pistachio nuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pistachio industry in South Africa is still small, as there are only about ten hectares of producing orchards, which are considered pilot sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Muller confirmed that there are currently 200 to 300 newly established hectares for pistachio nut production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the industry’s small size, Muller said that their knowledge and experience far exceed those of many larger South African industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have about 20-30 years of experience with pistachios, during which we learned most of its unique peculiarities or challenges which we have overcome and found the answers to,” said Muller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In a sense, it’s a new industry, but it’s almost like a young person with an old soul.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pistachios, which require very specific conditions to grow, could lead to an export industry worth R2 billion to R3 billion, depending on the value-out component.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Northern Cape is known for farming crops such as corn and wheat, mainly as row crops (agricultural crops planted in spaced rows). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muller said that converting the Northern Cape’s current crops to pistachios could quadruple revenue, increase profitability eightfold, and create 30 times as many jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the pistachio industry could create 2,000 to 3,000 jobs in the Northern Cape over the next three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pistachio farming in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The project initiated by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) in the 1990s aimed to position South Africa on the global pistachio stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IDC chose Prieska in the Northern Cape for its optimal climate and access to water from the Orange River, investing R130 million in the Green Valley Nuts project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan was to create 1,000 hectares of orchards, with local farmers managing 200 hectares each, and to build South Africa\u2019s first large-scale pistachio processing plant, with a budget of R15 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal was to create jobs, boost exports, and develop a sustainable industry, targeting markets such as the US and Iran, with expected exports of 2,500 to 3,000 tons annually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, by the late 2000s, the project faced significant challenges, leading the IDC to bring in international experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2011, the IDC declared the project \u201cnull and void,\u201d leaving farmers with thousands of trees and an uncertain future, while selling off equipment from the processing facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the original 10 outgrowers, only two had the proper varieties for successful pollination. Despite the IDC\u2019s withdrawal, two family farms, Wercon Boerdery (the Coetzees) and Uitdraai Boerdery (the Mullers), persevered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mullers tackled issues with bloom synchronisation essential for pollination and co-founded the Pistachio Nut Company to establish a nursery and supply trees, even employing former IDC staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also launched the Karoo Pistachios brand, focusing on production and reputation building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wercon Boerdery also has its own brand, Senqu River Pistachios, which focuses on a local niche with small-batch processing and a refined drying and baking method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pistachio Growers Association, founded in 2019, supports the growing industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa has the potential to establish a new multibillion-rand industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":827532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[22683,21998,22684],"class_list":["post-854863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-karoo-pistachios","tag-northern-cape","tag-senqu-river-pistachios"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854863"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":855191,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854863\/revisions\/855191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}