There has been a lot of rain in Greece over the past two weeks which means that white seedless grapes that would normally be picked and shipped are running out fast and stored fruit is already being marketed. “The knock on effect of that is that the Greek season will finish earlier,” said Neil Denny of importer and packer Richard Hochfeld. “Therefore we will be looking to move into Brazilian fruit earlier - in the last week of October compared to last year when Greek supplies went into November.”
Another factor this season, according to Denny and other suppliers, is that a heatwave in California in the early summer has severely limited white grape volumes from the state. Not only will this mean very short availability of the US fruit for the UK market, but it will also be mean that there will be stiff competition between US and European markets for Brazilian fruit.
Following on from Brazil will be South Africa, where there are mixed reports on early white seedless grape production. “The very early area in the northern Transvaal will start seven to 10 days later than last season,” said Denny, but the Orange River should start on time.”
But at Capespan, Martin Dunnett is not as sure of a prompt start. “The temperatures have not quite been hot enough,” said Dunnett. “So this could cause a week or so’s delay for our growers in the Orange River.”
Between the four sources, the result is a potential market shortage situation in the UK in November on white seedless grapes, however the outlook for red seedless appears more straightforward. “We are still working Spanish Crimson which has been good in the main,” said Denny. “Traditionally there can be some problems with colour, but the Spanish have managed that very well this year. Beyond that, we will be moving into US Crimson in the first week of November. Volumes are down, but fruit is very good quality.”
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