UK: Short grape supply with challenging quality

There has been a lot reported this week, and last, about the critical shortage of vegetables in Europe due to bad weather in Spain and Italy, but fruit is also suffering from climatic challenges.

Fruit is expensive in the UK just now and with people still strapped for cash after Christmas it is making it a tough sell.

"Egyptian citrus has just started and quality is good, but Spanish soft citrus is having some big quality issues due to rain," explains a UK importer.

Grapes are quite short at the moment which is causing high prices. Namibia stopped short and there was rain in the Northern Regions of South Africa which delayed harvest and affected volumes.

"There have been some quality issues with the Namibian and South African grapes which have been in storage and were possibly weather affected or delayed at the port, then you get a little bit of decay and Botrytis. This market situation has encouraged some people in India to start shipping early and there will be Indian grapes arriving in the Netherlands next week," according the trader.

"Brazil has finished sending grapes and Peruvian white seedless are coming to an end, and they will go a bit further with red seedless. Chilean supply won't start until the end of this month, but if Chile has any quality issues they will go for 8kg packs and send it to the states and not all the way to Europe."