Written by Gerda Potgieter

Emseni Farming, an award-winning establishment in rural Kranskop, KwaZulu-Natal, has recently opened its new world-class packhouse, promising even greater success, higher productivity, and more prosperous avocado harvests. This remarkable achievement reflects Emseni’s vision, dedication and commitment to excellence.

The new packhouse is an impressive 15 000 m² facility with strong natural insulation, helping it operate energy-efficiently while maintaining cooler internal temperatures. Its 7 000 m² cool room can accommodate different temperature regimes, allowing for sensitive step-down cooling and effective pre-cooling. The temperature-controlled packing area helps maintain an uninterrupted cold chain.

According to Dietmar Joosten, Emseni’s Manager, the packing line uses state-of-the-art, world-class sorting technology.

He explains, “With dedicated capsicum, sweet peppers and avocado infeed and packing designs, the eight-lane machine can achieve up to 12 cups per second and up to 36 tonnes per hour on avocados. Its world-leading camera technology combines nine colours and infrared cameras per lane, capturing up to 300 images of each fruit.

This enables Emseni to supply each customer with the exact quality and quantity of fruit they require, while maximising orchard yield and income for the grower. We trust God that Emseni Farming will continue to grow with grace and that through this work many lives will be touched.”

Emseni is not only a leading avocado producer but also a producer of sweet peppers and a variety of other produce. What began in 1969 as vegetable gardens to meet the community’s physical needs grew into one of South Africa’s most successful, diversified agricultural legacy projects.

Before Emseni’s establishment, the farmland was a wattle plantation spanning many hectares. The late missionary Reverend Erlo Stegen, founder of the KwaSizabantu Mission where Emseni is located, together with a handful of dedicated co-workers, cleared the land and planted staple vegetables.

Two years later, they had enough cabbages, spinach and amadumbe, a starchy root vegetable, to feed themselves and to sell their produce in neighbouring rural areas.

From humble beginnings to a flourishing agricultural legacy

Emseni grew over the years into a successful diversified agriculture project, including export-quality avocados. A proper packhouse is a critical link between the orchard and the market.

This is essential in avocado farming because it preserves fruit quality, reduces losses and ensures that the fruit meets market requirements. Emseni’s packhouses began humbly and have grown steadily alongside the enterprise.

In 1983, the company planted the first sweet peppers in glass greenhouses spanning 3 000 m² and conducted various crop experiments. They also planted the first 300 avocado trees on fertile ground.

Picking and packing of the first avocado harvest began in 1986. Because Emseni did not have a packaging facility, it packed avocados under trees for the South African market.

Emseni established a basic warehouse only in 1995 for its first avocado export to the United Kingdom and completed a Food-Safe-accredited packhouse for peppers in 2003. This milestone enabled Emseni to retail peppers directly and independently.

In 2007, Emseni renovated and expanded the packhouse. This allowed all farm products to be packed under one roof, with the addition of a fully automated product grading line capable of sorting by colour, weight and size.

Upgrading the current packhouse started in 2025, along with the first construction work for a new packhouse. The new packhouse not only provides much-needed space but also enables machinery upgrades, improved efficiency and supports future growth.

Emseni now has approximately 200 ha of avocado trees, of which 150 ha are in full production, predominantly the Hass cultivar. The new packhouse opened recently, in 2026. What began with six dedicated co-workers has grown into a large farm with over 600 employees, with plans for future expansion.

An agricultural project with humble roots delivered a world-class packhouse, growing its future from the ground up!

For more information about Emseni, visit https://www.emseni.co.za/our-journey/