10 September 2026
Programme for Provar Information Day
Plan your day at Slanghoek Mountain Resort with sessions focused on practical agricultural research, field-ready insights, and Q&A with the Provar team.
Preliminary Programme
Session 1: Industry Strategic
The programme outlines the current speaker lineup and session themes for Provar Info Day 2026. Final timings and speaker order will be confirmed closer to the event.
The Industry We Are Building Towards
Tristan Dorfling, Provar
Operational Decision-Making Under Uncertainty
Calla du Toit, Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing / Hortgro Pome
System-Level Weaknesses in the Fruit Value Chain
Charl Herbst, Stanislaus Agri / Hortgro Stone
Next 10 Years – Looking to the Future
Dr Wiehann Steyn, Hortgro
PANEL DISCUSSION
Shared Risk, Shared Future: Who owns the gaps in the fruit value chain?
Chairperson: Tristan Dorfling (CEO, Provar)
Panelists: Angelique Pretorius (Technical Manager, Kromco), Jacques Jordaan (CEO, SAPO), Frederick Odendaal (Manager, Growersdirect@CFG), Jacques du Preez, (Incoming CEO, Hortgro)
Preliminary Programme
Session 2: Stone Fruit
Report on Provar Stone Fruit Evaluations & Tastings
Kyra Pienaar, Provar
Report on Provar Stone Fruit Rootstock Evaluations
Chad van Wyk, Provar
The combination matters: Why cultivar and rootstock are more than the sum of their parts
Charl Stander, F1 Freshness First
Culteva: Building the Digital Backbone for Modern Fruit Evaluation
Gina Kuschke, Culteva
Preliminary Programme
Session 3: Pome Fruit
Report on Provar Pome Fruit Evaluations & Tastings
Dr Iwan Labuschagne, Provar
Report on Provar Pome Fruit Rootstock Evaluations
Tristan Dorfling, Provar
Evaluation of new apple rootstocks to tolerance of replant disease
Alex Kruger, Stellenbosch University
Introducing The New Pro-Hort Dashboard
Miaan Kramer, Provar
PANEL DISCUSSION
More Than Chemistry: What Responsible Partnership Between Industry and Chemical Companies Should Look Like
Chairperson: Hendrik Pohl (Horticulture specialist, Holistic Horticulture)
Panelists: Schalk Reynolds (Managing Director, Philagro), Bekker Wessels (CEO, Procrop (Pty) Ltd),  Jacques Fouché (Head of Technical Department, Nexus), Neville van Buuren (General Manager: Fruit Production, Oak Valley Estates Ltd)
Preliminary Programme
Session 4: Ensuring Value is won: Packaging, Export and the Final Mile
The 2026 Countdown: Balancing global compliance with commercial viability in South African fruit packaging
Nitasha Baijnath-Pillay, Hortgro
Innovation in Action: Designing packaging for real-world export conditions
Ewan Krige, Superior Packaging
Proving performance: What packaging trials are telling us
Dr Tatenda Kawhena, Provar
What we know – and what we still need to understand about export packaging performance
Dr Mariana Jooste, Hortgro Science / Stellenbosch University
Join the Conversation
Secure your seat for Provar Information Day on 10 September 2026.