As part of Freight Focus Month, the Western Cape Mobility Department visited fruit producer Two-a-Day in Grabouw to highlight freight’s crucial role in the food supply chain and the economy. The aim of the visit was to find better ways to move goods across all transport systems. It also highlighted how important strong partnerships are to keeping freight moving smoothly across the province.
The visit, framed under “Farm to Freight,” aimed to spotlight how critical efficient freight logistics are to agriculture, food security and rural livelihoods.
During the visit, Department representatives met with Two-A-Day’s leadership, logistics and packhouse teams, as well as key supply-chain partners (including shareholders, logistics operators, and export firms), to better understand the challenges faced by agri-freight operators. These included high-risk rural road infrastructure, port-related inefficiencies, gaps in cold-chain and refrigeration capacity, and elevated transport cost.
For many farming communities, the efficiency (or failure) of freight networks can spell the difference between stable markets and spoiled produce, lost income, or unemployment. The Department underscored that freight is not a luxury but a lifeline: when freight systems are well-managed, jobs, exports, and rural economies thrive.
Officials said the engagement was also a chance to foster stronger collaboration between government, agriculture, logistics operators and exporters, with the aim of co-designing targeted investments and innovations to strengthen rural freight capacity across the province.
