Frutas de Chile reported in a press release that during the 2023-24 season, the South Ameircan country exported more than 64 million boxes of fresh grapes, equivalent to 528,795 tons.
The shipments had a value of over USD $1 billion FOB, representing an increase of 7% in volume and 13% in value compared to the previous season.
Given the results, the president of Frutas de Chile, Iván Marambio, highlighted the quality of the fruit, indicating that “it is getting better and better, which this season was accompanied by a growth in the production and export of new varieties of table grapes, which reached around 39 million boxes, reflecting a 62% share of total shipments.”
Marambio explained that the factors that contributed to a positive 2023-24 season for table grapes were the logistics that “worked well” and the prices in the United States, which remained stable despite a greater Chilean supply since week 14.
Isabel Quiroz, executive director of iQonsulting, also analyzed the season, noting that Chile had a slower varietal replacement than competing countries such as Peru and South Africa last season.
“The new varieties in total exports were outstanding. Undoubtedly, producers and exporters have made a difficult transition, but it is paying off and it has been understood that there is no room for mediocre fruit and that it is still an attractive industry as long as you are willing to compete in the big leagues,” she said.
Frutas de Chile reported that the main new Chilean grape varieties are Sweet Globe with a 12% share, Allison with 11% and Sweet Celebration with 10%. Those that showed exponential growth last season were Sweet Globe, Autumn Crisp, and Sweet Flavor, while Timco and Cotton Candy have decreased their share.
iQonsulting also detailed that table grape shipments from the southern hemisphere, plus Mexico and India, increased by 6% in the 2023-24 season, reaching 2.2 million tons, which corresponds to 266 million 8.2 kg boxes, mainly driven by the increase in supply from Chile (+7%), India (+23%), and South Africa (+18%).
Chile was the main exporter of fresh grapes in the southern hemisphere during the 2023-24 fiscal year, with a 24% share of shipments.
In second place was Peru, which faced a complicated season marked by the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, which caused a 12% decrease in exports, reaching a volume of 520,480 tons (63.5 million boxes).
However, despite this exceptional drop in shipments, there is an upward trend for this supplier due to the increase in cultivated area, which reached 22,343 hectares this season.
In third place is India, with 343,982 tons and an increase of 23% over the previous season; in fourth place is South Africa, with an 18% increase in exports; and further behind is Mexico, which reached 235,182 tons with a 13% increase and a share in the southern hemisphere table grape market of 11%.
Marambio said that, despite the good season, there are still challenges to solve: “The supply of grapes from Peru and Chile is growing and will continue to do so, which is why there will be a greater concentration in the United States. Therefore, it is key to work on encouraging greater consumption of grapes with joint promotional activities, which we are already addressing with Provid of Peru, which we will discuss at our Global Grape Convention on August 8 at the Monticello”.
“Chile was for more than 30 years the main exporter of grapes globally, so we have the knowledge and experience to continue opening roads for this fruit in the United States and the world.”
He also noted that “without doubt, the great milestone of this season for Chilean table grapes was achieving the Systems Approach for shipments to the United States from Atacama, Coquimbo and part of Valparaíso, with which Chile will now send between 30-40% of its supply without fumigation to the US market, competing on equal terms with supplier countries that do not fumigate, such as Peru, improving the quality and condition of the grapes.”
Chile and Peru will join forces on August 8, 2024, at the first Global Grape Convention, to be held at the Casino Monticello Events Center, to face the main challenges for grapes globally.
