A day after his re-election, the president of the Sicilian grape consortium Consorzio di Tutela dell'Uva da Tavola took stock of the current season.
Giovanni Raniolo
"The trend for the 2021 season in Sicily this year saw normal quantities of excellent quality at the beginning. Unfortunately, from the end of August the harvests started suffering from dehydration, and were therefore of poor quality, provoked by unfavorable weather conditions. It was unprecedentedly hot with temperatures above 45°C, which hampered the growth of the fruit. Although we irrigated more than three times as much as in a normal season, we could not meet the water needs of the plant, which consequently suffered from water stress. This resulted in a crop of poor quality and short shelf life."
The commercial season "This harvest has been productive one, and consequently, also a productive commercial season. The trend has been two-faced. While the first part can be described as excellent, the second part gradually worsened and became almost disastrous. The prices for the traditional seeded product were satisfactory at the beginning of the season, ranging between a minimum of € 1.20 per kg for the early greenhouse product to a maximum of € 1.60. By contrast, in the middle of the season, prices ranged from € 0.80 to € 1.20 per kg, then dropped in the final part to € 0.80, then € 0.50 and even less, in some cases. The price dynamics for seedless grapes were much more complex. There is increasing demand for the portion pack or the maximum pack of 1 kilo. Bulk goods are still being ordered, but demand from our trading partners has not increased in percentage terms."
Competition from Sicilian grapes and trends "Apart from the partial overlap with the Egyptian season for the extra early crop, our direct competition begins once Spain starts its seedless grapes. That is in mid-July, at the same time that Apulia also starts selling. Greece also comes out with its Victoria grapes in late July. However, this year we had a good quality crop during that part of the season, so we had little to no impact from that competition."
"The market trend is definitely toward seedless grapes. This is an undisputed fact, which marks the present and future of cultivation on a global level. In a large part of the markets, for example in the US or in Northern Europe, people hardly at all know grapes with seeds, especially the millennials. Consumers therefore increasingly prefer seedless grapes. France and Switzerland remain the most interesting foreign markets for seedless grapes. And this brings us to varietal innovation. Indeed, early seedless grapes (Millennium, Arra 30 and Superior), red grapes (Flame) and black grapes (Summer Royal) have been tested on several hectares. We are also experimenting with new agronomic techniques to improve cultivation. This consists of new plantings with a structure that will consist of tents and racks."