“Our season is more regular than the last season. “Our colleagues at our US office say there are very good expectations in the market for Chilean grapes because they are coming in with very good quality,” says Cristian Sierralta with Terra Exports’ Chilean office (Terra Exports is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada).
While some grapes started arriving at the end of February, the Thompson grapes should arrive in the U.S. in just over a week. “This is all the central production from Chile—we also have the grapes from the North, but they’re earlier. All the fruit we send to the U.S. is mainly the central region of fruit,” says Sierralta.
Rain watch
While the overall volume of grapes is similar to last year’s, growers in the central region do have an eye on the upcoming weather given the calls for rain. “Spring is good for the fruit and we’re hoping it doesn’t rain in the next few days because we’re harvesting,” says Sierralta. “Otherwise the fruit will be affected.”
In terms of pricing, Sierralta notes that pricing is similar to last year’s pricing. “It was really low a couple of weeks ago but now the prices are picking up and will be in this range,” he says.
While Chile is coming in strong with its grapes—the season should go until May--Sierralta does note that Peru is pushing to come in with robust supplies as well. “I think the amount now from Peru is the same. They have an early harvest and they’re making good quality fruit and they’re learning more and more each year,” he says, noting though that a good Chilean season is anticipated given that Peru finished earlier this year. “It’s a really competitive market. Peru is more competitive than it was five years ago.”
Sierralta adds as well that South Africa is also another strong competitor though this year the season is down 25 percent due to drought.
For more information:
Cristian Sierralta
Terra Exports
Tel: +56-966755170
cristian@terraexports.com
terraexports.com