Seedless white grape suppliers have been experiencing a tough season on the UK market and the picture is unlikely to get any brighter until South African fruit starts to arrive in mid-November.
The issue of Bromopropylate, which had a lower Maximum Residue Level set in the UK this year cast a shadow of uncertainty over the start of the Greek season in August for shippers and importers reported lower than usual sendings for the first three to four weeks of the season.
That situation has been resolved, but it has meant suppliers have found it hard to meet supermarket programmes and volumes into the wholesale markets have suffered. The result has been supermarket prices on a par with last year, but wholesale levels have been extremely buoyant with supplies consistently making 1,000p a carton.
Packers are now faced with availability problems. "The right quality product has been really difficult to acquire," one importer told the Journal. "Maybe senders in Greece have been hearing that the US season is going to be a disaster so they have been putting fruit into store in anticipation."
The trade in the UK is not looking forward eagerly to the start of the California season either. "The US product is a stored grape and it has no shelf life," one trader said. "Basically, if we in the UK could get fruit from another source to cover the late-October to November window we would. Brazil is trying to pitch into that window and Peru is trying to get here slightly earlier even other developing countries, but sadly there is no real alternative to California."
No comments yet