The grape business has been a tricky one for the past few months. Between the different Southern Hemisphere growing countries there have been weather issues, port strikes, civil unrest and vessel delays to deal with.
Arrivals from South Africa were sometimes delayed by 2-3 weeks leaving importers short and if the prices were good in Europe, no one was pushing fruit into the UK.
“The Peruvian season started late October last year and it is now finishing off,” said John Fox, Product Manager for Grapes at Pacific Produce. “Peruvian exports to the EU and UK are influenced by the US/Asian market, there was a lot programmed for the US market but a strike meant a big delay in the fruit leaving Peru and when it did finally leave 2-3 weeks’ worth of fruit of arrived at once swamping the US market, but by that time it was too late to send it to Europe.
“The Chilean exports were affected by high shipping costs and a low dollar making it expensive, this led to people being nervous about the Peruvian arrivals, meanwhile Brazil was cheaper. Many opted to buy Brazilian fruit, but the Brazilian growing regions were hit by rain and suddenly there was a big demand for Peruvian grapes.
"Not an easy year to predict and that seems to be the trend – stability is hard to find!"
According to John, Peru had a pretty average season with good quality, but over all less volumes to the UK as the supermarkets put their programs into Brazilian grapes only to be left short.
Pacific Produces provides a 12-month supply of grapes moving from Peruvian to South African and then Chile, Egypt, Spain and Italy.
“As with most fruit imports at the moment it’s a tough game when you are dealing with shipping costs, currency and weather.”
For more information:
John Fox
Pacific Produce
john@pacificproduce.co.uk