On July 9, the Spanish region of Murcia made its first table grape shipments to Vietnam. These will continue throughout the 2020 campaign, which is starting with good prospects, according to the Association of Producers and Exporters of Fruit, Table Grapes and other agricultural products (APOEXPA).
The table grape exports to Vietnam have started after a long period of negotiations on the export protocol, the completion of a reverse mission, trial shipments and visits of importers to the farms.
The negotiations for the export protocol were carried out by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agriculture and the Vietnamese authorities and concluded in December 2018. The protocol outlines all the necessary requirements that Spanish companies must meet in order to export to the Asian country. Later, in March 2019, an inverse mission was organized by the Institute of Development of the Region of Murcia. It counted with the participation of six production companies with interest in this market: Moyca Grapes, El Ciruelo SA., Frutas Esther SA, Uniland Sociedad Cooperativa, Frutas Torero SA and Hispagroup, all of them integrated in APOEXPA. Also last year, test shipments were made and a delegation of importers visited farms in Spain.
Exports to Vietnam started at the same time as the 2020 campaign, for which normal volumes are expected, given that the rains have not had an impact on the fruit setting or the growing process. In general, the conditions in May and June have been very favorable for the crop's correct development, according to Joaquín Gómez, president of APOEXPA, an association integrated in FEPEX.
Murcia is the largest exporter of table grapes in Spain, with 104,468 tons in 2019 worth 212 million Euro. This is 70% of the national total, which amounted to 155,772 tons and 306.5 million Euro. Much of this growth is due to the positive development of seedless table grapes, according to data from the Department of Customs and Special Taxes, processed by FEPEX.
For more information.
APOEXPA
C/ San Martín de Porres, 3 – 1º. 30001 Murcia, Spain
Tel.: +34 968 204 949 / +34 968 204 872
info@apoexpa.es
www.apoexpa.es