It's roundly acknowledged that South Africa's grape harvest will end sooner than initially expected, shares Jacques Beukes, Modderdrift Grapes' director for marketing and logistics. It's a good problem to have, he admits: their grapes' excellent quality and berry weight and the complete absence of rain mean it requires almost no reworking in the packhouse, it packs like a dream and flies over the packline, but consequently cold room capacity is tested to the limits, especially when the consignments are held back by a windbound port.
On Wednesday the loading out of grapes at Cape Town is expected to resume, but the bottlenecks thus created translate to bunch-ups on arrival.
"The grape market in the UK and Europe is under a bit of pressure because more grapes arrived simultaneously than usual. Normally, the fruit packs a bit slower and it's more spread out. We know we're complaining with the white bread under the arm, as we say here, but at the same time we are anxious to get our fruit to the market."
Modderdrift Grapes sends 80% of their grapes to the UK, supplying all British supermarkets, with a percentage to Canada and a little bit to Europe. None at all to China nor to the USA where, Beukes remarks, there is no repeat of last year's super grape market and instead, this year, an oversupply of grapes from various origins including South Africa.
Red grape reluctance 
He remarks that the demand for white is far outstripping the demand for red and black grapes. In fact, he says, it's been a while since red grapes have been under this much pressure. White grapes are moving briskly.
Right: mixed punnets facilitate red grape sales
"There are still some grapes from Aussenkehr [Namibia] and the Orange River in the market. There's nothing unusual about that and it should be cleared during the coming two or three weeks, when there will only be Western Cape grapes in the market."
There was a bit of resistance during January. Promotions over the coming weeks will lift the pace of sales. "We pack plenty of mixed punnets, which creates an opportunity to sell your red grapes. I'd say about 10% of our fruit is packed in mixed punnets."
Beukes continues: "My opinion is that the season will end earlier as a result of the good weather and growing conditions we've experienced. Also, under these conditions, fruit ripen earlier."
An early end puts pressure on the middle part of the season but as the market empties out quicker the tail-end will benefit. From around weeks 10 and 11, South African grapes will meet those of India in Europe and the UK but that doesn't worry him: South African grapes have a higher quality, he asserts, and arrive after a shorter journey than Indian grapes currently need to follow to avoid the Red Sea.
For more information:
Jacques Beukes
Modderdrift Grapes
Tel: +27 23 354 8740
Email: jbeukes@modderdrift.co.za
https://modderdrift.co.za/