As regards export markets such as Spain, Poland, Czech Republic and the Netherlands, she adds that "sales and volumes have increased for both the Italia variety and red and white seedless grapes. Demand has slowed down for Red Globe (in the photo above). The harvesting of Black Pearl has also started. We believe Red Globe is not selling well because of the excess volumes still available on the Spanish market."
Italia grapes.
The situation is different for the Italia variety, which is currently a protagonist on the market. "Demand is high even if the price is not great. We lost a lot of volumes due to weather problems in early September, so we were expecting higher prices than last year. We will have to see what happens after the first week of November. Those like us who can manage the volumes in storage units can stagger sales, but nothing will change much now."
Harvesting of Italia grapes.
Spain has been demanding more produce for Christmas and the new year. "As usual, they look for grapes that last long and are buying good-quality fruit. They are slightly later than usual because there is a lot of domestic produce still available."
Harvesting of Italia grapes.
At the moment, the thing that is worrying producers is the fog. "We can deal with rain thanks to nets, but it is difficult to manage fog because of the high risk of rot."
Racemus' Black Pearl grapes are currently being shipped to far-away destinations.
Contacts:
Teresa Diomede
Gruppo Racemus
Viale del Commercio lotto 17-19
70018 Rutigliano (BA)
Tel.: +39 (0)80 4761325
Fax: +39 (0)80 4725731
Email: info@racemus.com
Web: www.racemus.com