The table grape industry in northern Mexico has emerged relatively unscathed following two frosts in February which covered growing regions from Sonora to Culiacán.
The Sonora-based table grape sector claims its 2011 production has been thinned by several million cartons as the first buds of the season were just appearing when the initial freeze hit, only to be burned again a few weeks later.
Industry sources told Fruitnet.com that the crop is expected to reach between 13.5m (8.2kg) cartons and 15m cartons, with volume likely to be short at the front end of the deal.
“The February freezes definitely did some damage `to the table grape crop` but not that much,” said John Pandol of Pandol Brothers.
“We probably lost 2 to 3m cartons, taking volume down from around 16.5m cartons to somewhere between 13.5m and 14m cartons.”
According to Jerry Havel of Fresh Farms, Nogales, whose company sells the majority of Grupo Molina’s table grapes, Mexico’s largest producer, the most-affected varieties are Perlettes and some early Flame Seedless.
Mexico mainly distributes its table grape crop in North America, with some headed for Asia.
The UK has also historically been a significant destination for early season Perlettes and Flame seedless from Mexico.
However, industry pundits claim volume has reduced considerably as Egypt has emerged as Mexico’s new early-season market.
The two February frosts hit many growing areas in northern Mexico, causing damage to asparagus and grapes in Sonora and tomatoes, cucumbers and squash in Culiacán.
The full report appears in Americafruit Magazine’s April/May issue, Eurofruit Magazine’s May issue and Asiafruit Magazine’s June issue.
