Optimism and excitement. If there was an overarching theme for the upcoming Peru grape season it would be this.
“Our Ivory variety is the first fruit off the line and they feature great size, great color and great taste,” said Fanny Robles, Vanguard manager - Peru procurement and sales. “We’ve never seen Ivory grapes look like this before. We are seeing this consistently for all our varieties and our packinghouse teams have a renewed excitement.”
Robles says compared to last season, Vanguard feels very prepared right now for the Peruvian grape season.
“Compared to last season, we are very prepared right now. The entire global team is more connected than ever,” said Robles. “Quality parameters have been further developed to meet packing needs for each different market. Our more experienced team combined with our strong crop means we can be more competitive this year.”
The Vanguard Peru team was recently visited by two global customers for a pre-season visit, departing with a very positive review and eager fulfillment plans. “We had one customer who wanted the entire Ivory crop!”
The Peru crop will yield approximately 55 percent green grapes, 40 percent red grapes and five percent black this season.
By the end of November, Vanguard’s red varieties will commence packing along with the remainder of the green varieties, including Sweet Globe™. Shortly thereafter, around mid-December, it will begin with its black varieties.
The Peru crop will yield approximately 55 percent green grapes, 40 percent red grapes and five percent black this season.
“Our cultural practices at the field level and significantly improved quality are two very positive developments leading to more volume than we forecasted,” said Dirk Winkelmann, president of Vanguard Direct. “With our green grapes, the average berry weight is a bit more than forecasted and that alone could push the crop up by 10 percent. Equally important, our pack outs are quite a few points higher this season.”
Winkelmann says with Vanguard's green grapes, the average berry weight is a bit more than forecasted and that could push the crop up by 10 percent.
On the topic of category breakdown Winkelmann said this year Vanguard is seeing an almost negligible volume of category 2 product.
The cautious optimism extends to the plans for transportation of its products.
Preseason strategic negotiations and alignment has Vanguard well prepared and positioned to transport the increased grape volumes. Currently there are no concerns around space availability and equipment in the Ica region.
“The expansion of our facilities to include both container plugs and increased pre-cool and cold storage will help mitigate logistical delays. We are well positioned as we head into peak grape volumes,” says Winkelmann.
For more information:
Andrea Bava
Tel: +1 (778) 908 1764
andrea@blitzme.ca
https://www.vanguardteam.com