30 YEARS OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL PAYS OFF
“Much of our success can be found in a meticulous attention to detail,” says general manager, Suné Wiltshire who has been with Du Roi Laboratory (Letsitele Limpopo Province, South Africa) for nearly 10 years. Du Roi Laboratory celebrates 30 years in business this year and has become a global forerunner in the production and distribution of premium-quality disease-free tissue culture banana plants. Over six million tissue-cultured plants annually leave this facility, currently destined for more than 35 countries.
“Supplying top-quality disease-free plants, on time, backed by professional staff offering technical support to clients is the backbone of our existence. However, we’ve worked hard to earn the continued trust of growers worldwide by also offering complete traceability from foundation block to grower, the thorough indexing of all material for a wide variety of diseases, as well as providing access to disease resistant varieties holding their own against such debilitating threats as Panama disease.” As an added measure to ensure disease-free plants, the foundation block is situated in an insect-proof tunnel.
Some production and distribution figures in perspective:
- 2008 – 2024 contribution to the global banana industry: Total plants supplied = 90 576 696
- Total plants exported (last decade): 37 936 430
- Total plants for SA (last decade): 20 640 539
- Total countries supplied: 42
World-class facilities
All initiation material is sourced from either its own foundation block or bio-secure greenhouse, depending on the phytosanitary regulations of the destination country. Through a process called soma-clonal variation, elite single clone selections have been identified, with the distinctive characteristics of shorter plant height, shorter cycle, cylindrical bunches and higher yields. These selections have been internationally evaluated and are commercially distributed with excellent results. Du Roi Lab offers fully automated weaning facilities, onsite nurseries, 28 Laminar flow benches and 10 growth rooms.
The Du Roi Laboratory management system for the production of banana tissue culture plants is ISO 9001 certified and they have been certified since 2011. This management system certification (which they have successfully renewed five times) sets them apart as a responsible, reliable, and highly qualified producer of tissue culture banana plants.
Our people is our super power
The company permanently employs 145 people, 87% of whom have been at the company for more than 10 years. “Our business requires a keen attention to detail, and, especially for the 80+ women in the laboratory, mental endurance,” says Wiltshire. Eighty-six percent of its workforce consists of women. “We’ve found that women are especially suited to the crucial tasks in the lab to ensure the successful growth and maintenance of plant tissues in a sterile environment. Because of the intense concentration required to do this work, we work in 4.5-hour shifts for 9 hours of the day. This has the potential to interfere with family life, especially when women have babies or small children. To enable mothers to come to work with a clear conscience regarding the safekeeping and development of their little ones, a special crèche facility was established in the staff village on site where children receive two nutritious meals a day, and breastfeeding mothers can attend to their babies in addition to the hour lunchtime they can spend with their babies.
One of the company’s people who greatly impacted the wider industry, is internationally renowned banana expert, Dr John Robinson, who joined Du Roi in 1998 as technical manager and continued to act as a consultant following his retirement at the age of 73. A great deal of Dr John’s time was spent developing new banana selections for Du Roi Laboratory. Using the natural process of somaclonal variation, a few new selections such as Asdia, Nandi, Grand Negra, and Apollo were released.