Statistics do not always show how large the share of seedless grapes is on the market. Figures do not distinguish between the various types of grape. The European Union is one of the market leaders on the international grape market. Within the EU, Italy, Greece and Spain are the largest grape countries by far, with a combined share of 93 per cent of the total European production. Estimates talk of an expected harvest of 1.7 million tonnes for the 2016/17 season. Italy is at the lonely top with approximately one million tonnes. Spain and Greece follow with 290,000 and 281,030 tonnes, according to estimates.
Sugar crisp (left) and Sweet Sapphire (right).
Seedless in Southern Europe
After a dramatic free fall in the past ten years, the European grape cultivation remains under pressure. High production costs, low profitability and increasing competition are a dangerous cocktail for the sector. Cultivators are investing in seedless grapes due to the increasing demand for these varieties. A gradual transition can be seen in Italy, and the seedless grapes have a market share of about 30 per cent in Spain by now.
IFG, founded in 2001, is one of the young players on the market. But the company has grown considerably, and is currently active in 14 countries, including in Southern Europe. “We have a good position in Spain, Italy and Greece and we are looking at further expansion in the region,” Marcos says. “Spain makes its presence felt most on the market, but we also have much demand for seedless grapes from Italy and Greece.” The impression that growers appear to miss the boat in these countries is therefore incorrect, according to her. “Everyone is interested in these strains. Right now, we have more demand for plant material of our seedless grape varieties than we have supply,” Marcos explains.
Small cultivatorsThe thing that makes the transition to seedless grapes slightly more difficult is the large number of small grape growers in this region. Only in Spain do we have some large growers. “Countries like Italy and Greece are definitely more complex for us to license new varieties in, than for example, Peru, California, Mexico or Chile,” Marcos says. That is because of the smaller areas and the large number of growers. “Last year, we appointed separate Regional Managers for all the major territories, including Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece to improve our service levels to our licensees.”
Investing in new strains and joining in with the popularity of seedless grapes is relatively expensive for these small cultivators. “On the other hand, if they do not invest in the long term, they will disappear,” Marcos warns. The seedless grape is appreciated by an ever-growing group of consumers. “Definitely,” Marcos confirms and illustrates: “As a child, I never ate grapes, because they were seeded.”
End of the line for Thompson Seedless?
Yet there are also small growers, often united within a cooperative or coupled to a different sales organisation, who are interested in new varieties. “New varieties should have higher returns and be less labour-intensive,” Marcos says. We already see diminishing volumes of Thompson Seedless in certain countries, because production costs for the variety are too high. “We aim to release varieties with a better return back to the farm.”
More Candy varietiesFurthermore, the varying climate zones globally are also taken into account. “We personally research where certain variety selections can and cannot be cultivated, but we always recommend growers to start a trial field to see how the selection does under their conditions.” Climatic conditions, Soil structure and water quality are two important factors for the success of a variety, but these are also factors that can be very different per location. “The benefit of grapes is that they are less sensitive to microclimates than, for example, cherries, another crop we breed,” Marcos explains.
Besides the fact that a variety needs to be grower friendly, it is also important to know what the consumers think of the grapes. “We have a range of early to late varieties in all three segments (white, red and black). In recent years, the market for red grapes grew extensively, but white grapes still have a very large market share.” However, we see the market share growing for some of our more flavoured types. Our first big success on the flavoured varieties had been Cotton Candy. According to Marcos, IFG has a further range of new flavoured grape varieties in the pipeline.
More information:
International Fruit Genetics (IFG)
Tersia Marcos
tmarcos@internationalfruitgenetics.com
www.internationalfruitgenetics.com