Named after the Roman goddess for agriculture and fertility, Ceres could quite literally be considered the fruit bowl of South Africa.
 
Inland of the West Coast, tucked away between mountains, the Ceres Valley, with its Mediterranean climate is ideal for growing fruit, something the region’s farmers have become very good at doing.

The Ceres Fruit Juices Pty Ltd is named after the town where it was founded in 1986 by local fruit farmers as a way to add value and expand the market for their produce.
 
Ceres advertises their products being made from 100% fruit juice, without preservatives.
The products are widely sold in Africa and imported to over 80 countries in areas including North America, Europe and Asia.

The United States is one of their largest markets, where it is a widely recognised brand of fruit juice. In winter, Ceres attracts visitors for a reason far removed from fruit.
 
The snow that falls on the surrounding Matroosberg Mountains has moved some to call the area “South Africa’s Switzerland”.
 Just check out the picture above.

A notable resident of Ceres was the heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard, who performed the first human-to-human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in 1967.
Barnard worked in Ceres as a general practitioner before moving back to Cape Town to further his career at Groote Schuur.