Grapefruit as far as the eye can see. Stephan Räker is impressed. The view from a ridge of the Nkwaleni Valley shows how much this region has developed. The valley is one hour north of the metropolis of Durban on the east coast of South Africa. “Ten years ago, the global market percentage of grapefruit here was not even 10 %. Now it’s at 30 %,” says the Global Competence Director Citrus at Symrise. Räker and the responsible purchasers evaluate the producers of citrus oils, juices and concentrates across the continents to make their products available to the entire Symrise Group. He and Thelumusa Mkhonza are forming an impression of the plantations and production systems here in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The Technical Manager in beverage development at Symrise South Africa is also a firm believer in maintaining close contact with the producers to get to know the raw materials and their production better. “This is important because it gives us a totally different connection to our products,” says Thelumusa Mkhonza. “We offer about 200 grapefruit flavors and mixtures around the world, which are used in hundreds of products such as isotonic sports drinks, mixed beer drinks, sodas or flavored waters.” In the Nkwaleni Valley, Thelumusa Mkhonza, who studied food technology, is especially interested in the Marsh variety of white grapefruit. In contrast to the pink variety, which is usually found in supermarkets around the world, the White Marsh tastes more bitter and sour.

Grapefruit as far as the eye can see. Stephan Räker is impressed. The view from a ridge of the Nkwaleni Valley shows how much this region has developed. The valley is one hour north of the metropolis of Durban on the east coast of South Africa. “Ten years ago, the global market percentage of grapefruit here was not even 10 %. Now it’s at 30 %,” says the Global Competence Director Citrus at Symrise. Räker and the responsible purchasers evaluate the producers of citrus oils, juices and concentrates across the continents to make their products available to the entire Symrise Group. He and Thelumusa Mkhonza are forming an impression of the plantations and production systems here in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The Technical Manager in beverage development at Symrise South Africa is also a firm believer in maintaining close contact with the producers to get to know the raw materials and their production better. “This is important because it gives us a totally different connection to our products,” says Thelumusa Mkhonza. “We offer about 200 grapefruit flavors and mixtures around the world, which are used in hundreds of products such as isotonic sports drinks, mixed beer drinks, sodas or flavored waters.” In the Nkwaleni Valley, Thelumusa Mkhonza, who studied food technology, is especially interested in the Marsh variety of white grapefruit. In contrast to the pink variety, which is usually found in supermarkets around the world, the White Marsh tastes more bitter and sour.

两个红星柑橘专家访问Intathakusa农场，收获全面摇摆。这很响亮;拾取器正在跨越树聊天，白色的麻袋很快就填满了。Thelumusa Mkhonza正在与葡萄柚的工人交谈。“将原材料从树上求出，”她说，“当她拔出一块成熟的水果时，她说，用一把刀切成两半，然后试成一块。“葡萄柚的质量对我们来说非常重要，因为它也决定了一个是关键的味道。”

新招募的短缺是一项重大挑战

对于Gysbert Potgieter领导巡回演出的新农场，这两位农民是一个主要的例子。“You need to really know what you’re doing because the climate and the soils here are unique – and you have to be patient,” says the Technical Director at the fruit processing company Nkwaleni Processors, which has been supplying citrus concentrates and oils to Symrise for years. The factory is a special case; half of it belongs to different local farmers and the other half belongs to the Böcker Group from Buxtehude, Germany. The Group manages the factory’s processes.

Potgieter认为难以找到下一代农民作为主要挑战之一。许多年轻人宁愿在城市工作而不是采取农业的辛勤工作。（更多关于它这里）“这里的柑橘系有摇滚底部。Zululand不是拥有美好生活的最简单的地方，“Potgieter说。“我们有一个非常高的失业率以及最高的艾滋病毒感染率，大多数家庭都依赖于一个收入。那个人有时必须赚到足以照顾十几个家庭成员。“

T.o him, the recent cultivation of grapefruit represents an opportunity to create something long-term. He counts on people who had previously not necessarily thought about farming. “South Africa is currently undergoing a land reform that allows a lot of people to get land on which they can plant something. This has led to hundreds of hectares of grapefruit trees being planted.” However, these new farmers often don’t know much about the methods of good agriculture. “That’s where we want to help: with agricultural know-how; with our experience with regulations and laws; with sales opportunities,” Potgieter explains. For this, the company is planning to convert an old farm belonging to the Böcker Group into a demonstration farm, and a training academy will be created there as well. Here the farmers will be able to learn everything they need to run their own farms, from the basics of farming to marketing and management.

在员工的注意力下卸下......

在员工的注意力下卸下......

and transported directly by conveyor belt to the processing plant.

and transported directly by conveyor belt to the processing plant.

SymTrap^®技术确保可持续利用

Symrise直接参与了最后的处理步骤。留在浓缩过程之后的水保持了大量的味道。要利用这一点，公司安装了赛事^®在Holzminden,技术开发was incidentally the first plant in Africa to do so. The technology extracts flavors from the aqueous phases, which are the watery elements of the juice. “An important side effect of this is that we can use the water that has been cleaned through this process to wash the fruit,” says Gysbert Potgieter. “That’s good for the environment and also saves us the cost of disposal.”

对于斯蒂芬·莱克，与Nkwaleni处理器密切合作很重要。“我们需要能够依靠培养，收获和处理正在进行。”此外，此外还从外部监控：供应商定期经过南非（SIZA）的独立可持续发展倡议进行审核，其指导方针符合国际SAI平台。乐动体育下载关于整个过程链的深入讨论在密切的伙伴关系中，Räker强调。这需要大量的信任和可靠性。例如，Symrise购买了大多数Nkwaleni处理器产生的油。作为回报，公司密切参与南非加工机的产品开发以及农业。

通过工厂中的股票直接与农民的联系是洞穴的一个很大的优势。“这意味着我们总是有足够的原材料，农民在决策中有一个说法。”这种直接线确保了可以更紧密地遵守规格，因为讨论了诸如灌溉量和收获时间的事项。因此，Symrise能够精确地满足特定的客户要求。“从长远来看，我们也可以影响我们对特定果实品种或品质的需求，”Räker说。“这使我们对我们的自然原材料的高质量，可持续融入我们的投资组合提供了更多的灵活性。”