For those of you hauling Chilean table grapes from distribution centers located near several USA ports, a somewhat dicey situation will probably become a littler dicer.
The problem is late season Chilean grape quality is already becoming suspect. Not only are importers acknowledging this, but I’ve witness it in my purchases at my local supermarket.
There a strike at a major Chilean port and it will likely delay the arrival of late-season grapes in the U.S. beyond the deadline for shipping fruit of a certain quality.
The union strike at the Port of San Antonio in Chile means that some grapes destined for arrival in the USA will arrive after April 10. This is the cutoff date when the grapes are required to be of a higher quality.
Grapes arriving after the deadline set by a USDA’s marketing order must be U.S. grade No. 1, before the product can be sold and transported and sold to the consumers.
After the April 10th marketing order date, the grapes will have to be inspected for U.S. 1. Since only a very small sampling of grapes are inspected, there is plenty of room for error.
The dock workers in the two-week-old strike are striking over pay, working conditions and government plans to end early retirement pensions.
Chilean grapes from Port of Long Beach, CA – grossing about $4900 to Chicago.