First South African grapes arrive in calm market

It's been remarkably quite in the grape market these past weeks. "The Italian season is as good as over, and ended about six weeks earlier due to the weather conditions. Now there are still some Crimson, Red Globe and Italia grapes on the market," says Lucien de Wit of Sous Fresh. "Italy has had a good start to the season, which continued until the end of October. Demand went down a bit then, resulting in a difficult end."

"At the moment, Peru is buying a lot. Brazil had a few 'problems', which meant the market for Brazilian grapes hasn't been spectacular. This week, the first South African grapes arrive from Transvaal. We are starting with Early Sweet, Prime and Flame," says Lucien, who visited the South African production regions two weeks ago. "The weather was favourable, and it all looked good. The grains were coarse and the brix good. I also noticed that in the Hex River, many late varieties were uprooted to plant Crimson. Demand for Crimson grapes is high between March and May, and people are clearly anticipating."

"Now we'll have to wait and see how the grapes are absorbed. Demand hasn't been that high in recent weeks, but it seems as if people are waiting for the new harvest. Last year, prices for the Christmas sales were too low. In view of the prices noted for promotions now, the price levels seem a bit higher than last year. It seems like there will be enough trade. The Namibian grapes are also coming soon, but we haven't seen the expected early arrivals. From India, finally, a reasonable harvest is expected," Lucien concludes.

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