Brazilian grape senders look set to benefit from frost problems in the early Chilean production area of Copiapó. This will leave the US market a little short, especially given a shortage of grapes out of California. “There are new plantings coming on stream in the San Francisco Valley and the crop this year is looking quite good,” said one leading UK importer. “There should be 1 million more 4.5kg boxes, but the US will probably take 1.5 million which will cancel out the increased volume effect, so there could be less fruit coming to Europe.”
The Thompson harvest started this week and will build to a peak in the first couple of weeks of November. Brazilian availability in the UK is therefore likely to run alongside Greek stored fruit until South Africa comes on stream. “The market does not seem to be flooded at this time so things are really looking good for Brazil,” said the importer. “They have had a good growing season, and as long as it stays nice and dry out there, we should have a nice season.”
