Chile: Table grape harvests still heavily impacted by rains
February 19 , 2021
The Chilean table grape harvests remain heavily impacted by the unseasonal rains two weeks ago with packing operations still at a standstill in many places, industry body Fedefruta said.
Fedefruta president Jorge Valenzuela said the damage estimate is worse than initially thought, with around three-quarters of white grapes and a third of red varieties lost from the central and southern regions.
The damage caused by the rains was reportedly exacerbated by rotting and fungal diseases in the fruit, brought on by low temperatures in February as well as high humidity in the fields, according to Valenzuela.
Vanguard gives Southern Hemisphere grape crop update – Produce Blue Book
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Market overview southern hemisphere grapes
Overall growing and demand
Peru and Chilean grape demand is particularly strong in Mexico, and increasing in Canada, the USA, and Asia as California completes their ‘storage season’. Vanguard is seeing the first arrivals of grapes from their own ranches in Peru into various markets around the world and the results have been very positive season to date. Overall quality and condition have been very well received.
Peruvian grapes
The Peru grape harvest for traditional red and green grapes will be completed by the third week of February. IP varieties will be completed by the end of February, followed by the organic grape harvest predicted to be completed the first week in March.
Chile assesses grape damage after storms
Mid-season varieties like Thompson Seedless have borne the brunt of the damage
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The devastating storms that struck some of Chile’s biggest fruit growing regions last week are likely to lead to a significant shortage of Thompson Seedless grapes in the coming weeks, according to a major grower in the region.
“The affected plantations correspond to those located between the V and VII regions where on average it rained between 25 to 80mm,” Compañía Frutera Santa María’s Christian Corssen told
Fruitnet.
“This has destroyed what was left to harvest of the early varieties such as Flame and Sugraone. However, for now it looks like the most affected variety is Thompson Seedless, where we estimate that our producers will lose 50 per cent of the crop.”
First containers of Chilean Thompson Seedless on its way to Europe
Silvia Piezzi is no stranger to many people in the Dutch fruit trade. The Argentinian entrepreneur worked for years at the Barendrecht trade center with the company Cesil Import & Export, but currently has to stay in Argentina due to the Corona measures. A departure to my second country is currently out of the question, but I do have the first containers of Thompson Seedless grapes from Chile on the water to Europe, Silvia says enthusiastically. With that I have the premier and as a woman I am proud of that.
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