Posts Tagged “Peruvian grape imports”
ISSAQUAH, WA – Vanguard International is optimism about its recently started Peru grape season.
By the end of November its red varieties commenced packing along with the remainder of the green varieties, including Sweet Globe. Then in mid-December the company began with black varieties.
The Peru crop will yield approximately 55% green grapes, 40% red grapes, and 5% black this season.
“Our Ivory variety is the first fruit off the line, and they feature great size, great color, and great taste,” shares Fanny Robles, Vanguard Manager – Peru Procurement and Sales “We’ve never seen Ivory grapes that look like this before,” Robles continues. “We are seeing this consistently for all our varieties and our packinghouse teams have a renewed excitement.”
It’s not just the fruit leading the high spirits of the Vanguard Global team as Robles notes. “Compared to last season, we are very prepared right now. The entire global team is more connected than ever from those in the fields, to the packing house, shipping lines, and customers.”
“Quality parameters have been further developed to meet packing needs for each different market.” Robles outlines. “Our more experienced team combined with our strong crop means we can be more competitive in the market this year.”
“Our cultural practices at the field level and significantly improved quality are two very positive developments leading to more volume than we forecasted,” shared Dirk Winkelmann, President of Vanguard Direct. “In particular with our green grapes, the average berry weight is a bit more than forecasted and that alone could push the crop up by 10%. Equally important our pack outs are quite a few points higher this season.”
The cautious optimism extends to the plans for transportation of our products.
Preseason strategic negotiations and alignment has Vanguard well prepared and positioned to transport the increased grape volumes. Currently there are no concerns around space availability and equipment in the Ica region.
“The expansion of our facilities, to include both container plugs and increased pre-cool and cold storage, will help to mitigate any logistical delays. We are well positioned as we head into our peak grape volumes,” says Winkelmann.
Founded in 1991, Vanguard International has been marketing and selling fresh fruits and vegetables in Asia and the Middle East for over 30 years, operating offices internationally in Chile, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, Spain, Taiwan, South Africa, and the United States.
Chilean grapes will be down 25 percent this season following damaging rains a few weeks ago, according to importer/exporter Vanguard Direct, LLC. of Issaquah, WA.
If this estimate is correct it would be 10 percent less than the 35 percent estimated two weeks ago by the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association.
Expectations are now for exports of 65 million boxes, compared to original forecasts of 85 million boxes, with mid-season varieties most heavily damaged.
The development comes during the first season in years in which Chile was expecting an increase over the previous season in its total grape volume.
Peru
The situation is very different in Peru, which by week 5 had shipped 48 million boxes, 12 million more than at the same time in the 2019-20 season.
Peru is now projecting a total crop of 52-54 million boxes representing a 12 percent increase.
Vanguard points out 16 million boxes of Peruvian green seedless grapes have been shipped season to date, which is up 31% over last season. Sweet Globes are up 48% more than last season representing 60% of the total green seedless. The green seedless variety showing the largest decrease from last year has been Sugraone with 30% less shipments than last year.
Meanwhile, 12 million boxes of Peruvian red seedless have been shipped season to date, which is up 13% over last season. The varieties with the most significant increases are Allison Reds at 141% and Sweet Celebrations with an increase of 51%.
Ica has shipped thus far 14 million boxes of table grapes and is predicted to ship approximately an additional 12 million boxes over February and March. Overall, the Ica crop is down 2%.
Vanguard notes Peru and Chilean grape demand is strong in Mexico, and increasing in Canada, the U.S., and Asia with California completing its storage season.
It’s been extremely difficult to get containers in and out of port due to congestion and delays.
Larger, more concentrated shipments are taking place with the latter portion of the Peruvian table grape season.
Due to a labor strike the 2020 portion of the season, shippers are making up for lost time.
Peruvian grape exports to the U.S. are up 21 percent this season.
El Pedregal S.A reports from mid January on, the U.S. market is likely to see the arrivals of large shipments of Peruvian grapes. Green varieties will probably be the largest portion of this volume concentration, since it is a fruit that most producers have prioritized to harvest, due to their greater sensitivity to quality problems.
El Pedregal predicts a significant increase in exports for both green and red seedless table grapes with exports to destinations around the world reaching around 18 million boxes and 14 to 15 million boxes respectively.
This increase will also be seen in Peruvian grape exports overall. Last season Peru exported 48 million boxes. This year it is forecasting about 55 to 56 million boxes. The season is expected to start winding down the end of January or early February. This is the time period when Chilean exports begin.
Peruvian grape imports by the U.S. are expected to increase this season, according to a new report from the USDA.
The new forecast has grape exports from Peru for the 2018-19 shipping season show an increase of 7 percent.
From October 2018 to September 2019 Peruvian grape production is predicted to rise 7 percent, totaling 540,000 metric tons, according to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
“Grape production is recovering after heavy El Niño rains and unstable temperatures in early 2017 delayed harvest, reduced yields, and reduced quality,” the USDA said in the report.
With domestic consumption estimated at 271,000 metric tons, the USDA projects grape exports at 385,000 metric tons in 2018-19, up 7 percent from the previous year.
For the calendar year 2017, the USDA reported the U.S. was the top export market for Peru grape exports, taking 33 percent of the total volume.
Peru’s dry coast and 12 hours of sunlight daily, combined with irrigation, allows Peru to mature its grape crop 55 percent faster than neighboring countries, according to the report.
Grapes are grown primarily in Ica with 41 percent of the production and Piura with 22 percent of the production. The total area under cultivation, is estimated at more than 74,000 acres.
The harvest season starts in late October and continues into in April.
While the red globe variety dominates production — it remains popular in the growing Chinese market. The report notes growers are moving to higher-value varieties to supply other markets such as Crimson seedless, flame seedless, thompson seedless and sugraon.
One acre of grapes in Peru requires an initial investment of approximately $16,000, not counting the cost of land.
The report said about 30 percent of the cost of production is soil preparation and the irrigation system, 25 percent is establishing the trellis, and 14 percent goes toward the plant itself.
At $3,070 per metric ton, prices in the U.S. market were 27 percent higher than the average export price of $2,419 per metric ton in 2017. In the same period, the U.S. market represented 42 percent by value and 33 percent by volume of total Peruvian grape exports.