The European grape season is almost at its end and customers are starting to focus on grapes from oversees. Currently, the majority of the grapes available are the Brazilian Thompson seedless grapes, especially from Hamburg importers. Grapes from Peru, another important grape producing country, are barely available as El Nino destroyed a large part of the grape harvest. As a result, the prices will go up.
At the moment large amounts of Turkish, Greek, and Italian grapes, mainly seedless, are still present on the German wholesale markets. These are gradually replaced by grapes from overseas. “The Italian grapes are nearly gone,” states a purchaser of the Saxon import company Cordis. The company supplies, among others, Aldi, Netto, Edeka and Rewe and confirms that the produce from overseas are increasingly available. Overall the prices are significantly higher compared to the previous years. "This year, the grapes are about 10% more expensive."
Peru
Since a few weeks ago, the Brazilian grapes have been available in Hamburg. However, at our request importers confirmed that the harvest in many other South American regions failed, due to El Nino. The storm “Costero“ caused a lot of damage to the agriculture and the harvests are significantly smaller compared to the previous years. Brazilian grapes are the first alternative and the prices will go up, stated the surveyed importers.
In Hamburg, the price of the South American product range are between 15 and 17 Euros per 4.5 kg stated the German Federal Office for Agriculture and Food in their weekly publication. “Currently, the prices of our Brazilian grapes are fluctuating between 15 and 17 Euros per 4.5 kg,” confirms Bennet Hanl, purchaser for the international fruit trader Fresh Food Company, located in Hamburg. “And from December the African import will begin again. The prices of these grapes will probably range from 12 to 14 Euros per 4.5 kg.”
African grapes
The international fruit importer in Hamburg has focused on the import of overseas grapes for several years. They supply wholesalers and discounters all over Germany and, just like other grape importers, import not only from South America but also from Southern African countries. The majority of African grapes are grown in South Africa and Namibia. The grapes cultivated are red and green and seeded and seedless.
