In MY2018/19, Chile is expected to register a fall of 4.5% in table grape production, to 870,000 tons. This decline is partly due to a drop in yields due to an unusually hot summer and a decrease in planted area, especially in the Copiapó valley in the north. Chile’s table grape planted area in MY2018/19 totalled 47,800 ha – a shrinkage of 8% from the previous campaign, in the face of increasing competition from Peru in the US market. The majority of Chile’s 16,300 table grape vineyards are small or medium-sized.

India’s Mahindra says it is closer to becoming a major world player in grapes on agreeing to buy a 60% stake in Dutch global fruit distributor OFD Holding.

The move will expand its sourcing base to South American countries and South Africa and its distribution to Europe, which it said is the biggest importer, accounting for 24% of global grape imports, and China, the fastest growing importer, with 31% CAGR.

OFD Holding BV owns Origin Fruit Direct, Origin Direct Asia and Origin Fruit Services South America which are based out of Netherlands, China and Chile respectively.

With 700 containers of table grapes exported and 600 units of other varieties, Chand Fruit is the largest fruit and vegetable exporter in India. Its products are also well-known under the ‘Golden’ brand.

Mangos, pomegranates, vegetables and onions are the other major types of Indian produce supplied worldwide.

The Middle East is the main destination with 70% of the volume, followed by the Far East with 15%, Russia 10% and Europe just 5%.

“We run our own sales operations in Dubai as the majority of our sales go to the Gulf,” said Chand Fruit Company CEO Mr Nawaz.

Hail storms, blooming difficulties and an ongoing decline in planted area have seen USDA forecasts for Argentina’s production of apples this year revised down to 640,000 tons and that for fresh pears to 580,000 tons.

Exports are revised down to 105,000 tons for apples and revised up to 330,000 tons for pears.

Climatic conditions combined to prune yields of cherries, table grapes, apples, walnuts, and wine grapes in Chile during the 2015/16 marketing year, reports the USDA Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN).

Grape polyphenols helped offset some of the adverse health consequences of consuming a high fat diet rich in saturated fat, according to two laboratory studies^1,2 conducted at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and published recently in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.

Up to 12% of fresh tables grape in class I and class II sales packages could be loose under changes being considered to the relevant international quality standard.

Packhouse productivity expert Marco has won a contract to supply its equipment to a brand new facility at Moyca’s headquarters in Totana, Spain.

Moyca, Spain’s leading supplier of table grapes, is building a new state-of-the-art packing house to serve its growing customer base. The new Marco Yield Control System will enable Moyca to efficiently produce consistently packed punnets and boxes of table grapes.

A total of 110.5 million boxes (109.3 million 19-pound box equivalents) of California table grapes were shipped during the 2015 season, setting a new record crop value at $1.83 billion, surpassing the previous record set in 2014 of $1.76 billion.

In a press release, the California Table Grape Commission said the majority of the crop is consumed in the U.S. In 2015, 34.7% of the total volume was exported to over 50 countries around the world, with a total export volume of 37.9 million 19-pound boxes valued at $737.8 million.

With about 79,803 ha last year, deciduous fruit is the largest sub-sector for all land dedicated to fruit plantations in South Africa.

And of the country’s total area planted with deciduous fruit, grapes (fresh and dried), apples and pears together accounted for about 78%, reports the USDA’s Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN).