Strong growth is continuing in the grape category in what has shaped up to be a seller’s market this quarter.

Surprisingly in what is a very mature category, grape consumption appears to be increasing at a brisk pace, with value sales rising 12.3 per cent and volumes up a sizeable 19 per cent in the last year, Kantar Worldpanel figures show.

“People are moving into the category,” says a Kantar spokesman. “This is due to the price falling overall across the retailers, particularly the big four with £1-a-punnet promotions in the last period. Prices have come down by 9.5 per cent over the last year, which is why people are eating more grapes.”

Market share has not altered much and it is Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and the hard discounters that are overtrading the most on grapes, with Asda the most notable undertrader.

While volume and value figures look healthy, traders at the coal face sourcing product against a backdrop of extremely challenging weather conditions around the world in major source countries are not feeling the upswing.

One told FPJ: “It has been a very difficult end to the European season. Greece finished too early on white fruit due to rain. We had our last fruit in mid-October and the last lot of volume arrivals was in the second week of the month. On red grapes the heat in Italy affected the crop and Spain had an early finish due to the weather.”

The lack of cool night-time temperatures in Italy meant that grapes failed to achieve the necessary colour and consequently volumes were directed to supermarkets’ value lines.

Fruit from Brazil has therefore arrived on a very eager market. “Prices are far higher than they were a year ago,” says one importer. “In fact, these are the highest prices we have seen for about five years. It really is a seller’s market but at least growers are getting a decent return on it.”

The problem, however, is that the Brazilian domestic market is strong and so UK buyers have to compete to get the volumes they require. “Some of the big shippers are 20-30 per cent down on volume exported because the domestic prices are so high,” said the importer. “Also they have had very hot weather and that is affecting storage quality, so some are preferring to sell on their home market.”

Another industry insider believes the key to the market in the past quarter has been the popularity of Tesco’s Everyday Value. “People are definitely picking those punnets up,” he said. “This is what is making changes in the category. And I would not agree that we are in a seller’s market really. After the £1 punnet promotions in the European season there has been price inflation, but we are experiencing a lot of deflation again now.”

Supplies are tight, he agrees, and this situation is forecast to last until well into the South African season, putting in jeopardy the traditional January price promotions. “The situation on white and black grapes might ease by the end of January, but I don’t see it getting any easier on red grapes until March when we are into the bulk of Chilean fruit,” warned one importer.

The South Africans have issued their first forecast of the season and are expecting total crop volumes to be broadly in line with the 54.65 million carton packout of the 2011-12 season at 53.8m-55.1m cartons.

Looking at the different production regions, fruit set on the early varieties in the Northern Province has been quite heavy due to cold weather conditions in early September, requiring more hand thinning to eliminate possible uneven berry sizes. Harvesting on Early Sweet started late last month with Prime following on in line with normal start dates this week. Red Globe may start earlier than usual due to early fruit set.

The major growing area of Orange River shows good heavy crop volumes on all varieties and harvesting was due to get underway this week, a week behind last season. In the Berg River area, the most northerly and earliest parts of the region to come on stream are running some five to seven days behind last season.

BRIDGING THE GAP

Gaps in the traditional supply window can be a headache for retailers, but one Spanish grower believes it has a solution for red grapes, as Michael Barker finds out

Growers are confident they’ve found the solution to bridging the troublesome October gap in the red grape supply.

Traditionally buyers have relied upon Spanish-grown Crimson grapes extending as far into October as possible, filling the gap until Brazilian product reaches the market.

But Spanish grower El Ciruelo believes it has the answer in the shape of Scarlotta, a red grape variety from the Sun World stable that it currently has on trial.

El Ciruelo has planted more than 100 hectares of Scarlotta, a grape with round berries, deep red colour and even spread and size. Now three years old, the plantings are in full commercial production and appeared on UK retail shelves last month.

Grower José Francisco Velasco has planted the crop on seven different farms at a variety of altitudes and differing conditions and is looking to establish the best conditions for producing the grape.

“We spend a lot of time with grape breeders, identifying opportunities and evaluating trials,” explains Rupert Maude, commercial director at El Ciruelo. “We strive for continual improvement to our commercial offer and we listen carefully to the market. At any one time we are trialling many new varieties in different territories and with a range of growing protocols.”

In the UK the company is working with Kent-based Fresca Group, whose technical director Andrew Sharp recently visited the vineyards in Murcia with Sainsbury’s technical manager Sarah Blanford.

“We work hard to find the right varieties that deliver everything we want for consumers – great flavour and appearance,” adds Sharp. “To get a variety like Scarlotta that has a deeper colour than Crimson will be particularly useful for the October window, and to maintain sourcing from Spain means we aren’t overly reliant on the early Brazilian crop, which can be prone to rainfall risk and which carry a much higher carbon footprint. This variety is really quite a breakthrough.”

Scarlotta particularly comes into its own in seasons such as this, when night-time temperatures have been too high for many grapes to colour, according to Fresca, which also points out that the Spanish Crimson crop was left looking somewhat pink this year.—

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