Indian grapes heading for Rotterdam
Deccan Produce, exporter of grapes, pomegranates and mangoes has not sent any grapes to Europe this season - yet. "The procurement price in India is too high at the moment," explains Nagesh Shetty from the company. In India most growers will sell their produce to an exporter rather than deal with the exports themselves.
The early grape season is already ending, according to Nagesh, "These are not shipped to Europe though, but mostly to Russia. We are now coming into the main growing area of Nashik and volumes will increase significantly. The sugar levels have been a bit low due to the cold, but they are now starting to come up to the right levels and will continue to increase as it warms up."
"At the moment there are good prices in Europe but this is cancelled out by the high procurement price in India," explains Nagesh. "Apart from the lower temperatures, the weather has been good for the growing season.
"Although volumes going to Russia are still small, they have increased this season and there has been no break in exports. Normally we would ship the early varieties and then stop until the big volumes came in but this year we have consistently shipped 2-3 containers a week and this year it will be a gradual transition from early to main varieties."
Nagesh thinks it will be a normal year, but it is always hard to tell. "January and February will most likely be close to normal but it is difficult to predict how the rest of the season will go as we were affected by very late rain arrivals last year, leaving some areas with no water for irrigation and we don't know how that will influence the season."
For more information:
Nagesh Shetty
Deccan Edibles Pvt. Ltd.
Tel: +91-22-28346281
Email:sales@deccanproduce.com
www.deccanproduce.com