Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		KWV Grape Syrup Factory / Moskonfyt Fabriek Robertson, Western Cape

Date: 1941 Client: KWV Type: Factory Style: Art Deco Status: Extant   Click to view large map Coordinates: 33°48'50.70" S 19°53'19.21" E Alt: 181m

KWV [Ko-operatiewe Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika / The Co-operative Wine Growers' Association of South Africa] produced moskonfyt (traditional grape must syrup) primarily to manage a massive overproduction crisis in the South African wine industry during the early 20th century. To deal with the glut of excess grapes (especially varieties like Hanepoot), KWV had to get creative and find alternative commercial uses for the fruit. They established specialized grape syrup factories (such as the famous KWV Moskonfyt Fabriek in Robertson and facilities in Villiersdorp) to absorb the excess harvest. The production of moskonfyt served several vital purposes: As a commercial by-product, it turned unsellable, surplus grapes into a profitable, non-perishable consumer product marketed as a sweet spread, baking ingredient, or cooking glaze; It added an export value as the concentrated syrup was highly stable and could easily be exported overseas—including to countries like Britain—where it was often processed further or used in foreign winemaking; KWV and local winemakers used moskonfyt as a natural additive in wine production to lower acidity, smooth out flavour profiles, and improve the aging potential of sweet wines; As an industrial grape concentrate the factories processed the sweet "mos" (grape must) into mass-scale industrial grape concentrate used across the food and beverage industry. Moskonfyt and snoek became a traditional pairing in the Western Cape because their production seasons and regional availability naturally aligned during the late summer harvest. The tradition blends the viticulture brought by early European settlers, such as the French Huguenots who traditionally made moskonfyt, with the rich fishing heritage of the Cape's coastal communities. Today the facility houses the Robertson Wineries bottling plant. [Aggregated information through Google AI].