The South African stonefruit season is in full swing again at importer Beltran of Group A. de Witte and as of last week grapes have been added to the fruit assortment again as well. "At the moment we have Black Gem from the province Transvaal," says Eric Dierick.
Good demand for grapes
Beltran has a small programme of Black Gem with volumes of around 2,000 colli per week. Most have already been sold before they arrive. The last will come in next Monday. After Christmas the prices decrease a little and sea freight arrives." The air freight grape volumes are minimal each year. "The logistic costs are high of course, and it is only the speciality stores that are prepared to pay more. At the moment demand is good and the prices are at a comparable level to last year."
Peaches more difficult each year
"When it comes to stonefruit, there are more than enough peaches. The volume is comparable to last year, but peaches are more difficult to trade each year. If not enough is sold, there is an oversupply on the markets. Part of the South African growers have pulled out trees with older varieties to plant new plum varieties. There is sufficient supply of small calibre plums. "For the larger and nice calibres such as AA and AAA, the prices are more than correct, due to the shortage in supply. The price of nectarines is precarious. For the nice large calibre you can sometimes get the correct price, and small calibres are hard to sell. I think that the South African exporters were very positive for the start of the season, but will now think differently."
