Chile is expecting a bumper grape season according to the exporters’ association as the first fruit begins to arrive in the UK.
Importer Richard Hochfeld unloaded its first consignment of Flame Seedless last week. “All the fruit looked good and prospects are encouraging for the season,” said the company’s Alan Guindi.
The marketplace in the UK still has plenty of South African fruit available and this week prices on the wholesale markets reflected the abundance.
Sugraone commanded 500-700p for a 4.5kg tray on Birmingham this week although Flame prices remained firm at up to 1000p for the same weight on Belfast.
“There is a lot of South African fruit at the moment,” said Guindi. “But that is likely to finish early. Therefore, there is good scope for Chile to come onto the marketplace early this season.”
Exchange rate differentials are a real issue for the fruit trade with the US dollar weak against a host of currencies, notably sterling and the Chilean peso.
“Growers are going to have to be more efficient,” said Alejandro Barros, general manager of grower-exporter Aconex, which has operations in six different Chilean production area.
“With the exchange rate, things are getting tougher and tougher.”
But, as Guindi points out, many of growers costs, such as freight and inputs, are incurred in dollars so, with a weaker dollar, these costs have declined in peso terms.
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