The 2023-24 Chilean grape season is coming to a fruitful end, as the industry scored higher-than-anticipated volumes, Uvanova President Rafael Rodríguez told FreshFruitPortal.com.
Uvanova is the Chilean table grape development research commission.
The sector is looking at a total production of 62,5 million boxes, according to Frutas de Chile’s last industry survey. If realized, this would mean a 4% increase over earlier projections, which put production at 60 million boxes.
“I think we could exceed the quantities that we had expected to ship. We are seeing fruit of an unusual quality for this time in the season,” Rodríguez said.
Crimson, Scarlotta, Red Globe, and the white variety Autumn Crisp are some of the varieties currently being packed and prepared for shipping, Rodríguez added.
The North American market is the top destination for Chilean table grapes, and usually takes roughly 50% of overall shipments. However, this season’s higher yields could make for an uptick in exports.
“I think we are going to exceed 65% this year, with more than 40 million boxes shipped to the United States and Canada. Europe and the United Kingdom hold the second spot among top importers, then the Far East and Latin America,” Rodriguez said regarding destination markets.
As for the Chinese market, Rodríguez said shipments are slightly down this season, as prices only recently picked up. This could be explained by an increase in local production, as well as other fruit offerings competing with grapes in the same window.
“It is a market that has been quite sluggish for grapes and this situation may have occurred due to the increase in local grape production, considering that China is a giant in table grape production,” Rodríguez pointed out.
Regarding prices, Rodríguez commented that lower volumes from California and northern Peru, and the delay in south-central Chile allowed supply to remain below demand in the markets.
“We have a very positive outlook on this season. Despite being in a high price range for six months in North America, we moved large volumes,” he said.
This, Rodríguez said, is a “step forward” to position table grapes in a higher price range and to understand that movement and rotation go hand in hand with quality and good condition, and not necessarily or exclusively with low price level that generates returns under production costs.
Looking at next year’s campaign, Rodríguez remained critical. While volumes were up from initial projections, he said that quality should remain the industry’s main concern.
“The rapid movement we experienced during this season might have prevented or masked condition problems that in a higher volume season can greatly complicate results,” he concluded.
