The grape market is a bit slow at the moment but there are some markets which are performing well according to Sam Vasala from Sai World.
"The Australian grape harvest has been good, with lots of nice hot weather, a big improvement on last year. The quality of the grapes and brix levels have been high. Demand is good, but some markets are noticeably slower than normal. I reckon the crimson harvest will be done in 5-6 weeks, a bit earlier than normal."
The Chinese market is going well, as are Korea and Indonesia, but in general Asia is showing less demand than normal for various products, this is probably down to poor economies and a lot of grapes on the market.
"Vietnam has been slow due to delayed arrivals from South Africa and volumes from both Peru and Chile with mixed quality. Japan is suffering due to the economy at the moment and Singapore has a lots South African grapes, they are sending much more into South East Asia than in previous years.
"A few years ago you didn't see a lot of South African grapes in SE Asia but this has changed in the last 2-3 years with growers planting a lot of new varieties which come into commercial volumes much faster than the older varieties, which could take up to fours years to reach commercial production."
Sam said that in general the world economy is slower than it has been and this is reflected in consumer's buying power, but that said grapes are doing relatively well.
For more information:
Sam Vasala
Sai World Pty Ltd
Tel: +61 (07) 5641 2217
Mob: +61470406579
Email: sam@saiworld.com.au
www.saiworld.com.au