Earlier start of table grape shipments from Brazil and Peru to the US

Under normal circumstances, California’s table grape production peaks this time of year. However, volumes hitting the market are much lower this season due to the impact of Hurricane Hilary. In order to fill a void in California, table grape growing countries in South America are jumping on early.

“Normally, Peru and Brazil don’t ship table grapes to the US until later in the season as they don’t want to compete with California,” says Ira Greenstein with Direct Source Marketing. “However, this time around they aren’t waiting as they see an opportunity to capture a window with strong pricing,” he commented.

Peru happened to have fruit ready early. The northern part of the country (Piura) was impacted by heavy rains this season. As a result, grape production is expected to be down 30 percent from last year. To avoid late-season rains this upcoming season, most of the fruit was pruned to come off early. The plan for Peru is to send this early fruit to the US market. While Brazil typically ships table grapes to the US in December and January, the country already has fruit on the water to the US East Coast right now. With the spot price of red seedless grapes ranging from $28 to $32 FOB and the price of green seedless grapes varying between $22 and $26, Peru and Brazil see an opportunity they want to jump on.

This scenario is expected to change in the next four to six weeks. Retail rejections are expected to come down in the next few weeks, and higher-quality fruits are on the horizon. With the quality of the fruit improving, California will likely bring fruit to market well into November. “Given that buyers will have more confidence in the later varieties, imports are not expected to just step in and take over the American market,” shared Greenstein.

Source: Fresh Plaza

To read the original publication, access: https://www.freshplaza.com/north-america/article/9560185/earlier-start-of-table-grape-shipments-from-brazil-and-peru-to-the-us/

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