The volume of Greek grapes is expected to be higher than last year, although the quantity of good quality grapes may be limited. Mimi Spilopoulou, who offers procurement and technical services to grape producers around the world, says: “Unfortunately this season has been characterised by some very unfavourable weather conditions which occurred during the flowering period. Cold, wet weather has impacted on the quality of produce and it is unlikely to be perfect in terms of sizing.
Although in some areas the grape quality is fine, other regions are experiencing difficulties with mixed bunch sizes. In addition, there have been reports of some produce which is marked by brown bruises - the sign of Tetranychus.”
Pests have been particularly prevalent this year. “The vine moth Lobesia Botrana as well as the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus Urticae have caused problems and at present growers are trying to reduce the problem of Lobesia Botrana with several pesticides applications,” she continues.
Although adverse weather was prevalent during the flowering period, weather conditions are still causing problems as the season gets under way, according to Costas Mathiopoulos, managing director of Mathiopoulos Ltd. “Picking did begin a few days later than anticipated,” he says, “and although the weather has not seriously affected production, conditions at present are very unstable and this could still have a detrimental effect. We are expecting larger quantities and good quality this year. In terms of my company’s production, I don’t believe there will be any difficulties with sizing. It is all a matter of selecting the right sizes for the right markets and the potential is definitely there for that to be carried out.”
Despite murmurings of an increasing preference for seeded grapes, the trend for seedless looks set to continue. Thompson Seedless has long been a favourite grape from the UK’s point of view and it’s a variety that now accounts for the majority of Greek production, although research and development into different varieties is on-going. “In terms of future developments there has been a lot of interest in the cultivation of other varieties such as Flame Seedless and Crimson,” says Spilopoulou. “At present many growers are carrying out trials of these varieties to ascertain whether they could be successfully produced here.
“What is new in Greece this year is that some quantities of Crimson are on the menu for the first time. Substantial quantities have been planted in the last two years and within the coming year they will be coming into production. “Some growers felt there was a future for them and that they would be ideal to widen the Greek grape portfolio,” says Mathiopoulos.
Despite the UK preference for Thompson Seedless, it is still a priority to remain competitive, especially, Spilopoulou says, since the cost of grape cultivation is getting higher every year due to increased production costs and rising expense of labour out in the vineyards.
With a mixed bag of produce available to the UK from a variety of European sources, Greek grapes are the last of the European sendings with the season generally running from August to November. This year it looks as though there will be stiff competition from Italy, due to a bumper crop.
“Italy is very strong in grapes and could well cause problems for Greek produce, says Katsiamakas SA’s Artemis Vartazarov. “Although its production in Vittoria was late to begin with the country is expecting some very big quantities. Some expectations suggest there will be 20 per cent more production than last year. This being so I expect prices to be very competitive and that the market for grapes will be very difficult. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that last year Italy finished on August 10 and so when we began, the market was clear. That is not the case this year and so we are anticipating some very stiff competition.”
If Italy has seen a rise in volumes then Spain has been faced with problems. “Spain faced a very difficult season this year because they, too had a lot of problems with the bad weather,” says Spilopoulou. “There were many problems with Sugraone in terms of mixed bunch sizes, as well as with the sugars.”
According to British & Brazilian’s sales manager Rachel Culley, mixed bunch sizes are not a problem limited to Spain. “The European grape situation is very hard work at the moment,” she says. “Although Italy is in full swing with seedless at present, it is very late. Greece is not exactly early, but it is only slightly later than last year. The key difficulty is to get the right quality and price and to get the right size. Because the weather during flowering has been so bad across all of Europe a great deal of production is of variable size.”
At Katsiamakas SA production is split between Thompson and Victoria. “The climate has been good this year so nothing too bad. “Victoria will go on now until the end of the August,” he says. “Thompson Seedless will start week 37 until the end of October. “We only work with two varieties,” he explains. “Before we had customers for these varieties only so we don’t feel the need to change.”
“We have just started to harvest the Victoria,” says Vartazarov, “so I believe the start is the same as it was last year. We are seeing some very good quality produce with exceptional colouration and the sugars are also great. The colour is bright green, not yellow like it was last year and sizes are about average. Last year we had very big bunches of up to 1.5kg but this year the sizes are a lot smaller and are more like 0.7kg. This is no a problem for the markets that we serve, because they are varying in their demands. The German market likes smaller grapes while the Polish prefer larger sizes,” he says.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, world production of fresh table grapes was unchanged at 11.2 million tonnes for 2003. This year’s production expectations are for stable world production, again around 11mt. Last year southern-hemisphere production declined two per cent but this was offset by slight increases in the northern hemisphere mostly due to a 100,000t production increase in China. This increase is based on more previously planted acreage now bearing fruit combined with additional grape area planted. Production of Chilean grapes is expected to decline 45,000t from the previous year’s abundant crop. Grape acreage has levelled off in Chile and any variation in production is mostly due to changes in variety. Italy’s table grape crop declined by about 65,000t, due to the summer 2003 drought.
Consumption of grapes across the globe is likely to remain unchanged in my 2003-04 according to the Economic Research Service. China continues to be the leading consumer of grapes, by far, with a population of 1.2 billion people. The Chinese mainly consume the domestically grown, low-priced Red Globe variety. Turkey does consume a significant amount of its fresh market production. Italy, the fourth largest consumer of fresh grapes, is expected to consume about 50 per cent of grapes grown for fresh market consumption in 2003. Spain consumes about 65 per cent of its domestic table grape production, exporting the rest, like Italy, to other European Union countries.
The UK market is of great significance for Greek grapes, as it is the best export option, says Spilopoulou. Despite this, many producers are exploring other avenues. “At present the only other available option for many Greek producers is Germany and Holland,” says Mathiopoulos. “They are very different markets and they require different colour, as well as different sized grapes. The demand from these countries for Greek produce is very high, as is the demand from Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. The UK market used to be hugely important for Greek grapes but it is now less so than it used to be. Other markets have continued to develop over the years - Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Scandinavia are becoming increasingly sophisticated.”
In terms of research and development, the most prominent issue for Greek grapes is that produce complies with standards for EurepGAP, says Vartazarov. “Although we are currently discussing the UK market for Thompson we do not send our Victoria grapes to the UK because they are not certified by EurepGAP at present, although this is something we aim to have rectified next year.”
