Alhough Andreas Economou, chief operating officer of Tastyfrutti International Inc., based in Philadelphia, was quick to point out that early October is too soon to make an accurate estimate of the upcoming Chilean grape season, he said word is the Chilean grape crop will be down because of drought conditions.
This winter, the Chilean government has declared an agricultural emergency in many areas of the country in an effort to fast track a number of relief measures for farmers. In August, Agriculture Minister Antonio Walker said that 2019 is one of the driest years Chile has faced in 60 years.
Veteran Chilean grape importer Economou said some growers of grapes that typically go into the raisin market have expressed interest in selling them into the fresh market because of the possibility of a shortage. Chile typically starts sending grapes to the U.S. market in early December and the Tastyfrutti executive said that same expectation exists this year. “We expect to get our first arrivals between the 4th and 10th of December,” he said.
While it is possible that the overall crop will be down, Economou reminded that Chile has several different growing areas in both the southern and northern regions of the country and not all areas are experiencing the same drought conditions. He said some growers have indicated that they will have normal supplies, as there is a good snowpack in their region to help irrigate the vineyards.
He added that Chile, just like other grape-growing regions, has added many acres of the newer grape varieties over the last few years. “These newer varieties, they are the future,” Economou said. “Every year more and more are being planted and coming into production. There weren’t too many last year but there should be a lot more this year.”
If drought conditions do hamper grape supplies, they might also impact the shipments of other fruits into the United States. The first commodity to be exported will be the cherry crop beginning in late October, and Economou said that supplies of that popular item are expected to be up significantly.
“I’ve heard there could be 50 million cartons, which compares to 38 million last year. Of course, there still could be what I call ‘natural thinning’,” he said. “But even if the crop is just 43 million or 46 million, that is still a good increase.”
Before U.S. retailers start making plans to merchandise that fruit, Economou said about 90 percent of the Chilean cherries will be exported to China. “They (Chilean growers) can get a lot more money in China than the United States,” he added. “In this case, American consumers are poor and Chinese consumers (of Chilean cherries) are rich.”
Economou and his team will be at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit in October to say hello to customers as well as to the many members of the Chilean produce community that attend the event. He added that Chile typically has very large representation at Fresh Summit.
Looking back at the past 12 months, Economou said it was a “decent year” but added that he had fewer grapes to sell for most of the year, and it appears possible that 2019/20 might start out in that same manner.
