The Indian grape harvest is underway and shipments of the early grapes are already being sent to Russia.
Nashik the main grape growing has had good growing conditions but there have been reports of rain in Southern India which may affect production there.
Nagesh Shetty from Deccan Produce said the market is somewhat subdued this year. “Although the procurement price of the grapes is the same other costs such as shipping and packing have increased which is causing some apprehension for importers."
India’s early grapes have lower sugars than those later in the season, this is fine for the Russian market but these grapes won’t be sent to Europe.
“A few people have tried to send the early grapes to the European markets, but with grapes from Chile with high sugars they can’t really compete. The first big volumes will be sent to Europe in mid-January when the sugars are higher.”
The coloured grapes from India have never been that popular in Europe, but they do export them to Russia and Asia.
“The coloured grapes are very popular here in India, in fact the domestic market here is very strong for both white and coloured grapes and if the freight costs increase in the peak season we will see more staying here rather than being exported. Consumers in India have good purchasing power and we are out of Covid and back to normal so the domestic sales are good.”
For more information:
Nagesh Shetty
Deccan Edibles Pvt. Ltd.
Tel: +91 9920136147
Email: sales@deccanproduce.com