The seedless white table grape sector is showing an increasingly clear trend. "The market is dividing into two very distinct segments: the premium segment, with tasty varieties with a longer shelf life, for which consumption is higher every day, and the rest of the seedless varieties, which have been suffering this year," says Graziano Defilippis, of Polar Fruit Europe, "as special varieties have been taking more and more market share from the traditional ones."
"In fact, there are two distinct marketing speeds. While consumers are buying the 500 gram tubs of regular grapes more slowly than last year, premium grapes such as our Crunchy One and Sweeta are selling very quickly. And the growth in the number of orders from the customers we work with in Europe, namely Aldi, Mercadona, Nufri and Grupo LG in Spain, Omelro in Portugal, Coop Norte and SOK in Scandinavia, Banagrumes in Paris, Coop Italia in Italy and Edeka in Germany, confirms this."
This year, Polar Fruit expects to market 5 million kilos of its Blanc Seedless grapes in Europe; 4.2 million kilos produced by the Spanish Moyca and Prieto, plus 1.8 million kilos grown in Italy by OP Giuliano. "Polar Fruit Europe has partnered with very large producers from different countries, centralizing the sale of all our Blanc seedless grapes in a single sales office located in Barcelona. That is the great strength of a variety like ours: in addition to being a highly appreciated and high quality fruit, it is backed by great commercial infrastructure, so we can strive for the highest prices and highest quality for the end consumers who buy our grapes, which translates into higher returns for our growers."
"In addition to the Blanc Seedless grape productions of our growers in Peru and Chile, we offer programs in Europe of up to 8 months duration with the same variety (Sweeta & CrunchyOne) and with the same quality, something that only Polar Fruit achieves."
Graziano Defilippis and Daniela Avendaño.
"Sales of seeded grapes are falling to all-time lows".
The table grape sector has undergone major changes in recent times, as the considerable growth in the global supply and the new genetics have led to new dynamics in the demand and to an increasingly competitive market.
"The grape sector is going to undergo great changes. If instead of competing, exporters and mid-sized and small producers do not start working together in cooperatives or producer organizations, many companies are going to disappear," says Graziano. "For example, we see that the consumption of seeded grapes is falling. There are a lot of Italia and Dona Maria grapes, among others, which are dealing with very difficult market conditions, with sales falling to all-time lows, while costs have gone up by 20%-30%." And growers are the biggest losers in this scenario, according to Graziano, as supermarkets have increased their prices by only 5%, at best.
"At Polar, unity is our great strength. We have achieved what no one else has achieved in the table grape sector: to bring several of the largest grape producers in Italy and Spain together under the same brand and the same commercial office. Thanks to this move, we are able to guarantee the supply of a high quality grape, and the rising market demand is proving us right. The greatest feedback we can have is the sale of our product and the fact that our customers are asking for more and more volumes of our Crunchy One and Sweeta grapes."
For more information:
Graziano Defilippis
Polar Fruit Europa
Av. Ports D’Europa, 100, Pl. 2, Desp 11
08040 Barcelona, Spain
Tel.: +34 600 957 146
[email protected]
www.polarfreshgroup.com