The Peruvian grape supply is ending with only a couple of containers still to come for importer, Pacific Produce. It has been a tough second semester for unprogrammed fruit according to Rob Cullum. Pacific has most their supply for Europe in the first semester from their farms in Piura. The second semester farms in Ica are predominantly for other markets like North America and Asia.
One of the main problems was that California had a record year, which meant that less Peruvian grapes went there and landed on the European market instead. “This coincided with Namibian and South Africa grapes which were slightly late. They also clashed with Brazilian supply to a certain extent,” said Rob.
Anything that was sent by Peru to Europe, arriving mid December until recently, without a program, will have suffered from the oversupplied market place.
“The market for white grapes has now recovered, but red is still in a bad place, hopefully that will recover in the next few weeks.”
Pacific Produce have taken a very low volume from South Africa this year due to the market conditions. "Chilean arrivals which will start next week are looking positive as we start with white grapes and can wait for the red situation to improve before loading.
"Israel will follow Chile and then we will see what happens with Egypt in the summer!"
Last year Pacific Produce imported Greek grapes for the first time and although the supply and quality was good they came to a tough market. Rob is hoping it will be better this year, and with the first premium varieties for sampling, this could be a great addition to the company.
For more information:
Robert Cullum
Pacific Produce
Tel: +44 (0) 1865877801
Email: rob@pacificproduce.co.uk
www.pacificproduce.co.uk