Chile and Peru are rapidly winding down their table grape shipments and will make way for the next regions shipping grapes: Mexico, from the Hermosillo region; and then, the U.S. which begins with its season out of Coachella, California.
"The Chilean industry is down on overall volume mainly because the northern regions–the 3rd and 4th regions–had some yield issues. Volume was down considerably from the original estimation from the industry," says Domingo Hidalgo, grower relations for Summit Produce Inc., noting that its volumes are still good because it planned ahead for this scenario. On top of that, weather in the 6th region has also affected production and ultimately shipments to the U.S.
In all, this has left table grape shipments from Chile light this year. "On quality and condition, it's been good for us because we're involved with the right growers," says Hidalgo. "The fruit from the southern Chilean regions is covered and we are shipping late Peru crop so we're in a good position regarding the late deal."
© Summit Produce
Varietal notes
From Chile, it's largely shipping green seedless and mostly Autumncrisp®. "That variety is a big part of the late crop from Chile which is a bit different from Peru. Peru has steady volumes of it shipping through the season," he says.
In all, while the timing of the end of the season is similar to last year, the volume is much lighter this year. "You also don't want to pack past the first two weeks of April because the risk of a weather event is high, especially in the south," says Hidalgo.
However, that has left demand stronger for both Chilean and Peruvian grapes. "Whoever has good, clean fruit is going to be able to get a very good price for it," adds Hidalgo.
For more information:
Domingo Hidalgo
Summit Produce Inc.
[email protected]
https://www.summitproduceinc.com/
