Karsten
Farm in Upington

The Karsten Group is a people business with partnerships stretching across the fruit growing regions of South Africa and across the world.
Piet and Babsie Karsten founded their family farming business in 1968 on Kanoneiland, an island laterally located in the Orange River, west of Upington.

The Karsten Group strives to further optimize productivity in order to increase profits and to develop products and markets that will enable us to create jobs and employ more people during the year. The Group is committed to building volume growth, increase value for all stakeholders, and using successes to the benefit of all. The Karsten Group strive to remain the front runners of the industry through continued focus on the competitive edge, diversification, strategic management and optimal use of water and other resources. Breeding for limited hoofgrow became a challenge when hoofgrow occurred. Sauer started experimenting with different bloodlines & hoofgrow decreased in the herd without harming the other good characteristics. We aim for goats with the best balance in phenotype, outstanding genotype and set high value on fertility and maternal traits. Years later in 1980 they bought the farm Roepersfontein, which is now The Karsten Group’s head quarters. Philosophy The Karsten Group is one of South Africa’s leading agri-businesses respected both locally and internationally for the excellence of its products, cutting edge innovation and integrity in its dealings with staff, service providers and customers. Vision The Karsten Group strives to further optimize productivity in order to increase profits and to develop products and markets that will enable us to create more jobs. In 2000 The Karsten Group acquired a deciduous fruit and vegetable farm in Ceres in the Western Cape where we focus primarily on apples, pears and cherries. In 2004 New Vision Fruit was established as the export and logistics arm of The Karsten Group. More recently, together with two other shareholders, Horizon Fruits was established to take care of the logistical services, in addition to sharing some of the marketing functions of New Vision Fruit. Karsten UK was established in 2005 as the distribution service provider of The Karsten Group in the United Kingdom and Europe. In 2012 The Karsten Group acquired table grape farms in the Western Cape as part of their strategy to broaden their marketing potential. In 2013 New Vision Fruit B.V. in Rotterdam was established to supply and deliver services to Europe. In partnership with other South African companies The Karsten Group has also established a marketing structure, Hydix, to promote and market its products in the Far- and Middle East. The Karsten Group now has a strong logistics and international marketing structure with companies and offices in London, Rotterdam and Cape Town, as well as being backed by companies in the Northern- and Western Cape.