Karsten History
The Karsten Group Delivering High Quality, Premium Grade Fruit.
“Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, Risking more than others think is safe, Dreaming more than others think is practical, And expecting more than others think is possible”
– Piet Karsten, founder of the The Karsten Group
Piet and Babsie Karsten founded their family farming business in 1968 on Kanoneiland west of Upington along the Orange River. Years later in 1980 they bought the farm Roepersfontein, which is now The Karsten Group’s head quarters. The small farm in Kanoneiland of only 15 Hectares became the test ground for the Group that is now a giant in the fruit industry.
The Group grew exponentially from 2000, starting with a fruit farm in Ceres with 200 hectares of apples, pears, cherries and plums. From there, New Vision Fruit (now Karsten Marketing) was established in 2004 as the export and logistics arm of the Group.
Horizon Fruits was established to take care of the logistical services, in addition to sharing some of the marketing functions of New Vision Fruit (now Karsten Marketing).
Karsten UK was established in 2005 as the distribution service provider of The Karsten Group in the United Kingdom.
Mosplaas Citrus, a farm in Kakamas, were established in 2009 with 260 hectares of citrus.
During 2011 Newgro Framing, a BEE project where 40% of the shares are owned by woman were started. Newgro currently have 195 hectares of grapes, and farm with goats and maize.
In 2011 Karsten also acquired 50% of shares in the Newfresh Group who promote their products in the Far-and Middle East.
Table grape farms near De Doorns and Piketberg were acquired in the Western Cape between 2012 and 2015 as part of their strategy to broaden their marketing potential.
The Group grew their logistics side even further in 2013 when they established Karsten Europe BV (previously New Vision BV) in Rotterdam 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.