According to the CEO of the Safco group, Benjamin Cilloniz Guerrero, Peruvian table grape exports in the 2016/2017 season (which ends in March), should amount to 37.5 million boxes (of 8.2 kilos each), i.e. 7% more than the 35 million boxes shipped in the previous season (2015/2016).
The CEO also said the export volume would have been higher if rain hadn't affected the production of table grapes in some regions, such as Ica.
He said the main market destinations for Peruvian table grapes continued to be the United States, followed by China and Hong Kong, and the European Union.
Cilloniz Guerrero said that the prices of the seedless red grapes in the US market had been low in this campaign because of the high production in the US and because of the early arrival of Chilean table grapes to the market, which led to an oversupply so prices could not rise.
Concern regarding the patented varieties
Cilloniz Guerrero, who is also president of the Inform@ccion consultant company, said the grape industry was concerned about the entry of new patented varieties.
He said that, a few years ago, the Redglobe grape had been threatened by the seedless varieties, such as the Crimson Seedless, Flame Seedless, and Thompson Seedless. Currently, the latter is being threatened by an accelerated increase in the area devoted to crops of patented grape varieties.
"Currently, our country is already planting 8 to 10 grape varieties with patents. In coming years, more than 30 new patented varieties will enter the country. This will significantly increase our grape offer, which is why we need to be opening all the markets we can," he concluded.
Source: agraria.pe