After an abrupt end to California's table grape season, efforts are being doubled to ship grapes from northern Peru earlier. "One of our partners is a very early grower who usually has grapes available before we need them," says Carlos Bon with Divine Flavor. However, given the current market conditions, Peruvian grapes are welcomed earlier as some retailers are scrambling to get their supplies covered. "We are expecting a huge season from Peru and strong volumes will arrive starting mid-December."
As a result of current short supplies, prices are climbing but there is a big range, depending on the grape variety. "Autumncrisp® is in the favorable position to be the top grape variety. Awareness for this particular grape is reaching a maturity level and practically every supermarket is convinced it is the best grape in the market," said Bon. As a result, pricing is in the mid $40s. Other green grapes are seeing slightly lower prices, ranging from the mid $30s to the low $40s. Currently, there is a higher urgency for green grapes as California greens ran out before red grapes.
Green grapes have overtaken reds
In general, green grapes have surpassed red grapes in sales and the gap keeps widening. More recently, acreage expansion and production growth have been focused on green seedless grapes. "While demand for green grapes is bigger, the acreage spread is larger than the consumption spread," commented Bon. In the U.S., about 60 percent of grapes being consumed are green versus 40 percent red. However, Peru's green grape acreage breakdown is more like 70/30. "More than 70 percent of Peru's grape acreage consists of green grapes with red grapes making up less than 30 percent."
Limited supply on California red grapes
Although there are still some red grapes from California on the market, this situation will soon change. "Starting in the next few weeks, supply will become tight. Once we hit the second or third week of December, availability of red grapes will be limited and they will be hard to come by," mentioned Bon. At the moment, California red grapes are in the high $20s range, moving closer to the low $30s. At the same time, red grapes from Peru have already arrived and the USDA is reporting prices of $34 - $36 on the East Coast.
Short term tight grape supply
All in all, supply will be tight on both green and red grapes in the first three weeks of December. "We feel a responsibility to provide our customers with the fruit they need and take it at heart. Therefore, we are very conservative with the volumes we promise. On a positive note, we're confident supply will meet demand after the third week of December." From a quantity and quality perspective, a good season is expected. So far, there hasn't been any impact from weather events and the quality looks outstanding. "Once Peru hits the peak weeks of supply, there will be promotional opportunities and we are very much looking forward to the upcoming season," Bon said.
Impact of Autumncrisp
"What I'm most excited about is that more than 60 percent of our green grapes from northern Peru, southern Peru and Chile are made up of Autumncrisp®, something no other import company can say. It is just a very impactful grape variety that customers are willing to pay a premium for," according to Bon. From December through the end of May, Divine Flavor will be able to offer Autumncrisp grapes uninterruptedly, which is unique. "Nobody else offers this variety non-stop for six months." The other 40 percent of Divine Flavor's green grapes include Sweet Globe and Timpson™. The vast majority of the company's green grape program is made up of these three varieties. "SugraOne, Thompson, and Flames on the other hand are becoming what VHS tapes and CDs are today," said Bon.
Grower Summit
Next week, on December 2 and 3, Divine Flavor will be organizing a Grower Summit in the Ica region in Peru. "For the first time, we will be bringing together about 30 different grower groups for a dedicated grape summit in South America," says Michael DuPuis. Growers from Peru, Chile, Mexico, and California will participate in an interactive program that includes presentations as well as workshops.
For more information:
Michael DuPuis
Divine Flavor
Tel: +1 (520) 281-8328
[email protected]
www.divineflavor.com