During the peak of the harvest season, the dispatch area becomes one of the busiest spaces in the packhouse. Pallets move steadily between cold storage, loading bays and waiting trucks, while our teams coordinate closely with transport companies and shipping lines to ensure fruit leaves the packhouse on schedule.
At Betko, dispatch forms the final step before fruit begins its journey beyond the packhouse. Once apples and pears have been sorted and packed, they either move into our holding rooms in cold storage or undergo force-cooling, where they remain under carefully controlled temperatures until they are ready to be loaded. Maintaining the cold chain during this stage is essential for preserving quality, particularly for fruit destined for export markets.
From here, the dispatch team works closely with transport companies and marketers to ensure containers are loaded efficiently and according to schedule. During the busiest weeks of the season, this requires constant coordination between packhouse operations, cold rooms and incoming trucks. Careful planning helps ensure that fruit continues moving smoothly through the system without unnecessary delays.
Once containers arrive at the packhouse, the loading process becomes another carefully managed step. Pallets are moved directly from cold storage and loaded into refrigerated containers, where temperature settings are closely monitored to maintain the cold chain. Every container must be packed efficiently while ensuring that airflow and temperature distribution remain consistent throughout the load.
Recently, global shipping conditions have added an additional layer of complexity across the fruit industry. Changes to some international shipping routes have meant that marketers need to remain flexible in how fruit is moved to certain markets. In response, logistics partners across the supply chain are adjusting schedules and routes where needed.
While these developments happen far beyond the orchards and packhouses of the Western Cape, they do influence how fruit moves through the export chain. For packhouses like Betko, the focus remains on ensuring that fruit is packed, cooled and prepared correctly so it is ready to move as soon as transport becomes available.
Even during a busy season with changing conditions, the goal remains the same: to handle fruit carefully and keep the supply chain moving efficiently from orchard to market.
Behind every container that leaves Betko is a coordinated effort between harvest teams, packhouse staff, the dispatch team and logistics partners. It is this collective rhythm during the harvest season that keeps our apples and pears moving from the Western Cape to markets around the world.