Frutas de Chile (formerly ASOEX) is projecting 62 million boxes of Chilean table grapes to be produced in the 2023-24 campaign. The U.S. market should take up roughly 57% of that volume, at 35 million boxes.
The organization’s Table Grape Committee indicated that, up to week 8, 15 million boxes of table grapes had been shipped to the U.S. Another 20 million are expected to depart between weeks 9 and 17.
The East Coast will receive approximately 15 million of those boxes, and the West Coast 5 million.
Weeks 11 and 12 are projected to see peak shipments, the committee stated.
Table Grape Committee Coordinator Ignacio Caballero said that more than half of the volume forecast for the U.S. market has not yet been shipped.
"Weekly volumes will increase from week 10 onwards. Thus, mid-March through April is set to be the best time for retailers to provide the market with Chilean grapes,” said Caballero, who is also Frutas de Chile’s marketing director. .
The main export varieties are Sweet Globe, Allison, Timco and Autumncrisp. The Thompson Seedless variety has shown the biggest decrease in volume, with a 52% drop.
Other markets for Chilean table grapes include the Far East with an 11% share, Latin America with 8% and Europe with 5%.
Chile and Peru will join together on Aug. 8 for the first Global Grape Convention, to be held at the Monticello Casino Event Center in Santiago. The event will address the main challenges for the crop worldwide.
