One of Argentina's leading citrus companies, San Miguel, has carried out its first ever table grape exports following an acquisition in Peru last year.

The company last year purchased Peruvian mandarin producer Agrícola Hoja Redonda, which also owned avocado and table grape production, for US$64 million. 

The first table grape shipments by the company under its new owners were received in early January in Philadelphia this year, San Miguel said.

Close to 100 containers are being distributed among the leading supermarket chains in the U.S., it added.

"For San Miguel, this represents a huge milestone in the company's history, because after 63 years perfecting ourselves in the world of citrus we are now applying all our expertise and logistics and commercial platforms to a different fruit," San Miguel communications manager Federico Böttcher told Fresh Fruit Portal.

"Our objective is to offer the markets quality fruits that satisfy the most sophisticated needs."

Varieties being sold in the U.S. market include Jack's Salute and Sweet Globe, which are licensed by International Fruit Genetics (IFG).

San Miguel business development manager Agustina Fabbio said in a statement that grapes were a very dynamic commodity that required a great amount of care and work.

"The key to the operation is the timings of harvest, arrival to the packhouse and the cooling process. The time from cutting off a bunch of grapes to it being cooled should not be more than six hours," she said.

San Miguel hopes to export 2,000 metric tons (MT) of table grapes this season. After its inaugural shipment, fruit was also sent to Europe and Asia.

"We have new patented varieties on our farms which have the main characteristics consumers are looking for nowadays," Fabbio said.

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