"We expect the Spanish grape campaign will be good"

"We still haven't begun to market grapes of Spanish origin in our brands. We expect the Spanish grape campaign to start around week 26 and 27," stated Fabian Infantes, the Commercial Director of Hispalco. At the moment, the Valencian firm has Italian grapes.

However, it is still too early to know the total volumes available. 

"It will be a good campaign. Many of our producers protect their farming areas with systems that minimize weather damage: frost, hail... etc. This guarantees, in part, the quality and quantity of the product," Fabian Infantes said.

The Spanish grape marketed by Hispalco through its Monna Lisa® and Unicorn® brands, comes from the areas of Murcia, Alicante and Cadiz, where their main producers are located. "For this campaign we have incorporated the production of grape from Cadiz, with very careful cultivation systems and new varieties that are more resistant and have a better palate, which we hope will have a good acceptance," said Ana B. Beltran, the Manager of the company.

"We are going to continue marketing the traditional Crimson, Melisa, Thomson, Flame, or Red Globe varieties, as well as Victoria and Aledo grapes; the latter at the end of the year. Our commercial bet for this year in Spanish grape are other more recent varieties in the market, such as the Sweet Celebration, Sweet Enchantmen, Candy Snaps or Candy Hearts, crisp and sweet," the exporter stated.

 

The great change in consumption trend, where people have gone from eating grapes with seeds to seedless ones makes one wonder if the traditional grape with seeds will one day disappear from the stores. According to Fabian Infantes, :This is difficult to predict. There is an undeniable increase in consumption of seedless grapes, however, there still is demand for grapes with seeds. It is true that producers are betting on seedless varieties, but production can't be modified from one campaign to another. A vineyard takes 4 to 5 years to be fully productive. In the case of breeds and depending on the grape variety, the production would be advanced one year. Therefore, even though there is a trend that indicates that seedless grapes will conquer the market, it is soon to make bold statements," stated Ana Beltran.

The grape sector is very versatile and has many presentations and formats. "The main novelty for this year is the launch of our Hippie Chic® Italian grape box. Last year we released our Monna Lisa® brand and Unicorn® Classic Edition in some wooden box sets with gold details, each with eight 800 gram bags of Spanish seedless grapes. This presentation had a good acceptance and this year it will have an outstanding growth," Infantes said.

 

The main destinations for this company's grapes are Germany, France, and Italy. They also make shipments to the countries in the Persian Gulf and, to a lesser extent, to Hong Kong.

"Italy started with its grape in early June and it is a strong competitor for the Spanish grape. The Italian table grape that we sell under our brands has an extremely high quality level. It's an expensive and well-priced product, especially at the beginning of the season." However, Ana Beltran stated, "There is a market for all origins."

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