T&G Global’s first at-scale harvest of commercial volumes Ivory and Sugraone table grapes is underway in Peru with the fruit being picked and packed for shipping to Europe.
The harvest began late last month with early green seedless varieties and next week will see the start of the second harvest wave, Autumn Crisp and Crimson seedless grapes.
Sarah McCormack, executive general manager international at T&G Global is very pleased with the colour and consistency of the grapes packed to date describing it as, “excellent”.
“So far we’ve packed 20,000 boxes with a 96.2% pack out. Projections are that the total crop will be around 220,000 boxes which we’re really pleased with given this is just our second commercial harvest from Peru.”
A small volume of grapes was harvested by T&G in 2016 but extensive flooding last year severely impacted crops.
T&G will ship current volume to Europe instead of the US this season as domestic volumes of table grapes remain high across the States.
“The USA still has around 50% of its domestic crop to sell and that volume is not predicted to clear until late December or early January. We are also receiving good pre-order demand for Peruvian crimson seedless and red globe table grape varieties in China as the China/USA tariff issues continue.
T&G’s General Manager, South America, Felipe Rodriquez says he and his team expect to finish harvesting on 20 November. “In Piura, we have the ability to manipulate the harvest slightly and we plan to finish by late November before the temperatures get too hot in December.”
T&G now owns 340 hectares in total with 136 planted in the Piura region of Peru.
For more information:
Jo Jalfon
T&G Global
Tel: + 64 27 201 2645
Email: joanne.jalfon@tandg.global