The table grape campaign in Vinalopó, Alicante, is currently in full swing with the early white seeded variety Victoria and the white seedless Superior, but with lower volumes compared to last year's bumper crop.

"This week we will start working with the red seeded Red Globe variety and soon we will have Italy, a white seeded variety," explains Eduardo Costa, sales manager of the young company IMG. "From September, we will have Crimson white seedless grapes and red seedless Autumn Royal.” It is a campaign with fewer kilos, but with better quality and larger calibres.

"The quality of these table grapes is truly satisfactory this year. Furthermore, as a result of the dry weather and the arrival of high temperatures, the ripening has accelerated and the fruit reaches high Brix levels, with a yellowing of the skin that indicates that the fruit is at its best for consumption," he affirms.

Egypt and Chile’s off-season table grape campaign lasted longer than usual and the first batches of grapes did not reach high prices despite the low volumes available; however, according to Eduardo, "as imports have finished, the market has become hungry for Spanish grapes and prices remain stable despite the increase in supply. All indications are that, unlike stonefruit, table grape prices will not drop.”

IMG mainly ships its seeded grapes to supermarket chains in Portugal, but it also exports them to the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Germany. "Southern Europe and the Mediterranean continue to prefer grapes with seeds, but consumer trends are increasingly moving towards seedless grapes," says Eduardo. "I think seeded grapes could even disappear in less the ten years."

The Valencian company is currently also distributing peaches, nectarines, apricots and flat peaches, which, despite their higher quality this year, have failed to increase in price due to oversupply.

"Since the start of IMG’s operations in March we have been very pleased with the progress and how sales are going, as well as with the addition of new clients who have placed their trust in us," concludes Eduardo Costa.

Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/