The international market for table grape shipments has been changing in recent years. Historically, local production reached its main destination, the United States, in the counter-season, which to some extent guaranteed demand and good prices. However, the irruption of new varieties that achieve better calibers and have a longer shelf life has complicated things for traditional varieties.
According to estimates, nowadays there are more than 100 of these new varieties. Their main attributes are that they have a much better caliber and appearance, as well as a greater resistance, which allows them to be moved over long distances without any problem. It is possible to store them in refrigerators for 90 to 100 days, which has made them the favorite of buyers.
The arrival of these species has limited the market for the traditional varieties that exist in the area, such as the Thomson (sultanina); Superior, Perlette, and, especially, the Flame variety. Something that, according to Alfonso Artigues, a producer of grapes from Limari, could trigger a crisis in the future.
"The people who have these varieties are running a very big risk because the Americans have already replaced them and are producing much earlier grapes that have a better quality, so they are running out of a market," he said.
He also said that he had personally visited the United States and had discovered that the supermarkets were not buying this type of grape. "In fact, I have some of those varieties and was told that they would not receive them."
According to Artigues, this may be the last year in which they have the possibility of entering said market, so the business continues to be profitable. "However, the future looks very complicated and the people that don't change to other varieties will be left out market, because they won't achieve profitable prices or have somebody to sell it to."
Source: diarioeldia.cl