Peruvian Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea Franco was in charge of signing the update of phytosanitary protocols for exporting Peruvian table grapes by air to the Chinese market.

The first grapes exported under the System Approach are expected to start in November this year.

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.

Chilean exporters and authorities expected to have the protocol approved for the 2023-24 season, but an issue related with the Free Trade Agreement between Chile and the EU is holding it back.

The United States is anticipated to absorb approximately 57% of Chilean supplies, equivalent to around 35 million boxes.

Despite the head start in Coquimbo, harvests in the Valparaíso, Metropolitan and O’Higgins regions were much later due, in part, to a colder spring.

The East Coast will receive approximately 15 million of those boxes, and the West Coast 5 million.

High winter temperatures caused poor sprouting, which implies more work in greening, thinning, and harvesting, lower efficiency in all work, and generally lower yields.

Supply issues began in August when Hurricane Hilary struck California. From there, the industry witnessed a domino effect of adverse conditions.

So far, because there has been good movement of fruit within the U.S. market, grape quality has been strong.