The Peruvian season is about to end and the South African origin is now in full swing. However, with the logistics problems the whole world is faced with, the increase in the price of the products and with the grape production in evolution, this 2021-2022 season is atypical, to say the least.
Peruvian season
“For the Peruvian origin, the campaign took place in two times. The excellent pre-campaign before Christmas was followed by a turning point around the 20th of January, when significant volumes arrived from Ica. Then, the market started to lose some value, but remained stable in terms of consumption, with high prices. As for the quality, there has been no major problem. Overall, the quality was good,” explains Timothée Levesque, purchasing manager South Africa in charge of developing new families of products.
South Africa: loading delays extended from 10 to 18 days
The company started receiving the first shipments from South Africa at the beginning of January. “This season is really atypical, because of all the problems in logistics linked to the availability of containers and ship rotation. Freight costs have exploded. Although the increase in value was less significant for South Africa than for Latin America, it still represents a real handicap. From June, freight costs should increase even more and become similar to those of South America. There are delays in the loading time, which creates a major problem because it affects the shelf-life of the products. The current delays for loading a container can go from 10 to 18 days more than usual. This means that two weeks are wasted for the distribution of the fruit, which creates a lot of uncertainty regarding the quality. This year, South Africa is expected to have a lot of volumes, but now nothing is certain anymore.”
Grape prices have increased by 30%
In addition to the increase in freight costs, importers must face the higher prices for packaging and other additional costs. “We are forced to pass these costs onto the price of our products. Grape prices have increased by nearly 30% compared to a traditional year so, inevitably, consumption is also impacted.”
New expensive but popular varieties
Strangely, despite the significant increase in the price of grapes, some varieties are not affected by the decline in consumption. “In South Africa, many new varieties have been planted in recent years and they have now entered production. It is the case of some club varieties that are sold on the free market at extremely high prices, with a very dynamic consumption. This is also the singularity of this season, we have a multi-speed market.”
Total Produce Indigo has a wide range of grapes, from so-called volume varieties to newer varieties, and for all three colors. “We sell mainly seedless grapes. We also try to follow the new club varieties that are emerging, while keeping varieties of the Red Globe type. We want to satisfy all our clients, knowing that the more niche products we offer, the more positive the consumption tends to be.”
For more information:
Timothée Levesque
Total Produce Indigo
Phone: +33 7 60 15 69 76
t.levesque@indigo-fruit.com