The Business Journey
History and the people.

The Olivier Family owns and lives on a farm, called Houdconstant, in the Porterville Western Cape district.  The farm’s name originates from the spring on the farm continues water supply – even through the worst droughts. The farm is a beautiful piece of land, more than 200ha in size, located at the foot of the mountain, adjacent to Porterville.

The area is well known in the export fig industry and besides farming, the Olivier Family also runs a fresh produce packhouse in which products like pomegranates and figs are packed. The packing facility had a huge amount of figs that could not be used for exports.  During December 2014 they started with some tests by using old drying technology but realised it will be very expensive to run.  
By making some modifications to a greenhouse and using solar power to drive fans they were able to harness the sun’s power and dry figs cheaper and more effective in the industry.  Cornel Snyman, who moved to Porterville during April 2014, is overseeing all development and operations on the drying facility.

With limited knowledge of the industry, the initial start was difficult as learning was through trial and error… more figs were thrown away than the one’s, they were happy with.   Eventually, they got the method and recipe perfected.

Serious modifications were required to the drying facility.  By the end December 2015, they were ready to dry in their new improved dryer, capable of drying on a much bigger scale.  2016 was survived and they just completed their 2017 fig season with serious improvement from 2016.

Company overview

From small beginnings to large enterprise
 
Our mission is to supply the highest quality dried fruits at affordable prices, making it accessible to everyone in the market.  The facility can produce a minimum of 4000kg of dried figs per week and they are in a constant process of development to increase quality and productivity.

With state of the art tunnel-drying-facility they are able to harness the sun’s power to dry any fruit in a controlled environment. This allows them to give to their consumers the unique eating experience of dried fruits grown locally and dried efficiently.
 

Products

Bulk Manufacturing is the foundation of the business profile:
•    Preserved & Unpreserved dried figs
•    Coated dried figs
We strive to provide the best quality products from the farm to the customer.