On Thursday, August 8, the Global Grape Convention was held with more than 1,000 international attendees and 60 sponsoring companies. The meeting brought together two associations: the Table Grape Committee of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile (ASOEX) and the Association of Table Grape Producers of Peru (PROVID), who joined forces in the first Global Grape Convention to begin collaborative work between both countries to increase consumption of this fruit in international markets.
The event featured an international-level program offering talks, market analysis, ideas, marketing and communications strategies, discussion panels, and more.
L-R: Ignacio Caballero, Manuel Yzaga
Ignacio Caballero, president of the ASOEX Table Grape Committee, called for reflection and challenging the five paradigms of the sector: "The good season was a climate shock and now we must think in the medium term because things are going to be tough," said Caballero. "There's an urgent need to increase demand to respond to the sustained growth of supply–forgetting about "the window" and thinking about what the consumer wants." He also noted that Chile and Peru must act together in the face of the entire chain, and added that the industry must understand who it competes with because, along with fruit, competitive products include healthy snacks.
"Once again we open our doors to the entire world to make the practices and activities, as well as the value we generate, known to the general public," said Manuel Yzaga, president of PROVID. "That is the most important thing: to talk beyond the fruit, to talk beyond the grapes. This is just the beginning, there is still much to discover and to add value."
The Global Grape Convention 2024 kicked off with the panel "Global Panorama For Grape Production In The World", which featured América Ramírez from Decofrut, who analyzed the data on exports of grapes at an international level. Following that, Caballero and Manuel Enrique Izaga analyzed the situation in their respective countries. A group of national and foreign leaders in the sector also presented the challenges that table grape production, marketing, and logistics present today from a Latin American perspective.
More than 1,000 attendees participated in the convention.
Later, the panel "Consumer Response To New Varieties", led by Chris Dubois of Fresh Food, leader teams at Circana, discussed the complexities of the Anglo-Saxon consumer, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, and Jerry Clode, founder of The Soltion, discussed the potential of the Chinese consumer.
Rodrigo Barra, head of SAG's Phytosanitary Regulation and Certification Department, spoke about the Systems Approach for Chilean table grapes to the United States.
In the afternoon, Iván Marambio, president of Fruits from Chile, moderated a session on challenges table grapes face in destination markets, followed by Álvaro Luque, CEO of Avocados From México, who shared the model of success of avocados and how this can be replicated in grapes.
For more information:
Global Grape Convention
www.globalgrapeconvention.com