The current supply of table grapes in North America is extremely short. "Because most fruit is allocated to pre-season programs, open market business is very tight, and we expect this to continue through the end of January," says Jarrett Little, president, Star US and senior vice-president of sales.
On grapes, fruit has been shipping for several weeks out of Peru and Brazil into North America. South African fruit is on the water as well as some fruit from Northern Chile.
In terms of varieties, on green grapes, there are good volumes of Sweet Globes, Timpson, Ivory, and Autumn Crisp, and on red grapes, there has been good movement on Allison, Sweet Celebration, and Timco. In specialty grapes, Cotton Candy and Candy Snap grapes continue to see good movement given their popularity with customers.
Grapes growing in consumption
Meanwhile meeting that tight supply is high demand on all colors. "Canadians love grapes," says Little. "We have no reason to believe consumption will be anything but strong and growing. There is a recent TikTok trend called "grapes under the table" that we are keeping an eye on, as it could have the potential to push consumption even higher."
This is on top of other factors pushing consumption up, including the increased focus on new varieties in the past five years which has strengthened the consumption of import table grapes–particularly green grapes. "Great tasting, large grapes with extended shelf life have made grapes an item consumers are eager to put in their basket during the long, cold winters in Canada and the USA," says Little.
In the meantime, Saskatchewan-based Star Produce and other Canadian shippers are contending with issues affecting the produce industry in Canada right now. "Exchange rates and the devaluing Canadian dollar is a major obstacle," says Little. "Potential port strikes in the U.S. and Canada threaten our ability to get products to our customers in a timely manner. Additionally, a lack of container supply at source countries has been an ongoing challenge."
For more information:
Carey Tufts
The Star Group
[email protected]
http://starproduce.com