Ferreira Fresh's fleet of 70 dedicated refrigerated trucks is a familiar sight on the roads of Gauteng and beyond, as far afield as Kimberley in the Northern Cape and Bloemfontein in the Free State, delivering fresh produce to restaurants, hotels, canteens, retail stores, hospitals, and schools.
© Ferreira Fresh
In 2016, in a tiny kitchen, lent to him by a friend, Ferreira Fresh was founded by Keanu Ferreira. He started by supplying fresh fruit boxes to offices in and around the Sandton area. His father, Lino Ferreira, one of the founders of The Fruit Spot, joined Keanu a year later, and together, Keanu says, they have passionately built a successful business focusing on quality, customer service, and satisfaction.
Today Ferreira Fresh, which has a black economic empowerment (BEE) level 4 rating, supplies government school feeding schemes, hospitals (including the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, third largest hospital in the world), private medical clinics, mining canteens, private restaurants, basically everyone except directly to households (unless they use Uber Eats, which runs a 'Fresh Tuesday' promotion on fresh produce).
Ferreira Fresh drivers cover 230,000km every month
To transport fruit and vegetables around Gauteng, Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Limpopo, and the surrounding areas, Ferreira Fresh drivers cover approximately 230,000 km a month. That's like "going around the world six times," Ferreira points out. "We value all our drivers. They've got such good personalities; they've always got a smile. Our customers often compliment our drivers, but every staff member has a part to play in the success of covering the 230,000 kilometres. We are very proud of our staff compound of 350 and growing."
© Ferreira FreshThe fleet that takes vegetables, fruit, and eggs to Ferreira Fresh clients across provinces
He welcomes all clients to see their 10,000 m2 Sandton, Johannesburg facility (with two kitchens), where 200 tonnes of fresh produce move through every day. Around 80% sourced directly from farmers, and the rest is procured on the Johannesburg municipal market, at times of shortage, for instance, watermelons at this time of year. "We are FSC22000 certified. We're very proud of our certification."
From his vantage point, he sees that more people are starting to catch on to blueberries, regarded as a super food. Dragonfruit is also becoming more popular, along with broccoli tender stems.
At this time of the year, grapes are imported from Spain and strawberries counterseasonally from Egypt.
Fierce competition from citrus & avo exports
It's been a good citrus season, currently finishing up. Ferreira remarks that the competition with exports was unusually fierce. "There were a lot of farmers exporting their citrus stock and not too much available for the local market," he explains. "There was still available, but the price didn't come down to where it used to be, because the export was so busy. Farmers were even exporting their class three lemons, which just shows you that they were desperate for stock."
Ninety percent of their avocado business is ripe and ready, because restaurants only take ripened avocados. Ferreira Fresh ripens their own avocados, bought directly from farmers who export all their class-one avocados. He remarks that exports, especially to the United Arab Emirates, reduced the amount available for local sales. "So basically, we're left with a local class one avocado, which is still good, but it just doesn't travel like the export is supposed to travel. The sizing and the quality have been good."
In nine years, settling in to become an indispensable part of the fresh produce ecosystem of central South Africa, in what already was a well-served field, takes on a distinguishing feature. What does he think accounts for their success?
"We're not the biggest, but we're the best. That's what we believe, with our quality and our service. Probably service first because without service you're nothing," he asserts. "I think everybody knows that we fight with passion."
Their TikTok page is brand-new and, he believes, the first of its kind showing the people of Ferreira Fresh: https://www.tiktok.com/@ferreira.fresh
© Ferreira Fresh
For more information:
Keanu Ferreira
Ferreira Fresh
Tel: 086-006-1007
Email: [email protected]
https://ferreirafresh.co.za/