Although seedless grapes are already popular in the rest of Europe, there had been no clear demand for them in Spain until about four years ago. "There are countries like the UK that no longer want any other type of grapes," states Miriam Cutillas, head of marketing at Uvas Doce. South Africa and France are very important markets for Spain's seedless grape production. "In any case, we have been seeing changes in the demand of Spanish consumers, which has motivated us to increase the production and introduce changes in the farms;" consequently, 50% of the production of this Alicante-based company currently consists of seedless grapes. "We believe that this year is going to be crucial for this fruit in the domestic market, which is becoming very interesting."
Uvas Doce currently has four of the five most important grape licenses in the sector, in addition to its own production. This allows them to offer a wide range and to compete in the international market; against Italy and Greece, to be precise. "The only thing that sets us apart is the production volume, since they start earlier and there isn't much you can do against that. However, the quality is the same," she assures. The representative of Uvas Doce affirms that "the only aspect that really differentiates us is the way we cultivate and handle the fruit, which can have an influence on the customers when choosing one origin or another."
The price of seedless grapes is higher, around 3 Euro per kilo at the moment. This is mainly due to the lower productivity of the plant. However, "we are already solving this problem and thanks to the new varieties there will come a time when the price will be the same for both kinds of grapes."
For more information:
Miriam
Uvas Doce
Tel.: +34 659 670 964