2009 Australian Table Grape Update

Greetings! I take this opportunity to forward you an update on how the 2008/09 Australian Table Grape growing season is progressing.

Market and Season Conditions

With a weak Aussie Dollar which is forecast to get weaker, the table grape season from Australia is looming and should represent excellent value given the difficult exchange rate conditions last season.

Again growers have been hampered by severe drought conditions and have again needed to secure temporary water from other irrigation districts to enable commercial crops to be grown and later harvested. Although the temporary water cost is lower this season compared to last, producers are needing to secure larger volumes of water, given the permanent allocation is lower this year in Victoria than last year.

Again we expect that 80% of the commercial table grape vineyards will bear commercial crops with the overall crop load considered average which is good news. When ever we have average crop volume conditions you can be assured of consistent excellent quality in both flavour and presentation.

Growth cycle is normal and we expect to have first export consignments of Flame Seedless and Menindee Seedless available for export out of Mildura in the first week of January.

Our Italian Agronomist Michele Melillo from Italy has again been working with our key grape producers to help us grow the highest possible quality table grapes to meet our customers expectations. Michele works with our growers in every aspect of table grape production and cultural practices.

This Season’s Crop

We see the crop load by variety being as follows:

Menindee S/L

Average crop with harvest to commence first week of January. 30,000 – 40,000 boxes will be available for export however I expect the level of interest will be driven by packed quality and availability of green seedless grapes from other southern hemisphere suppliers.

Flame S/L

Average crop however supply will be limited as much of the Flame S/L has been reworked to other varieties such as Crimson S/L or Red Globe over the last 5 years. We will have around 15,000 boxes available.

Red Globe

Average crop and expect to have 250,000 boxes available for export. Earliest harvest will commence 3rd week of January and will be able ship right through to early / mid June. We are seeing some of the best quality ever on selected vineyard and expect to have some outstanding mid season high end fruit.

Crimson S/L

Average crop and again colour will again be the key to the success this coming season. We will have additional supply for the coming season which will push our exportable volume to over 300,000 boxes. Given the popularity of this variety in a broad number of markets it will be important that buyers make commitments early in the season as it will be difficult to break supply chains mid seasons. We will commence harvest 3rd week of January same as last season and will be able to load a combination of both sea and air shipments.

Thompson S/L

Due to weather considerations last season next to no Thompson S/L was shipped last season. Crop is considered average and quality is looking very very good. We anticipate 70,000 – 80,000 boxes available for export and will have size ranges to meet various market requirements. Harvest will commence first week of February. 2007 was an excellent year for Thompson S/L and we very keen to re-establish our position in the global market.

Autumn Royal

Harvest will commence around the 3rd week of February and we will have more volume available this season than last with new plantings coming in to production. Colour again will be paramount to the success of the Autumn Royal and we will be packing all Autumn Royal this season in bunch bags. We expect to have between 30,000 and 40,000 boxes available for the coming season

Calmeria

Harvest is expected to commence second week of March however supply will be limited as much of the production has been replaced with other varieties. We expect to have between 20,000 and 30,000 boxes available for export.

Packaging

Packaging for the coming season will be specific to customer needs. It will range styro foam box to waxed cardboard carton. We will be able to deliver plain pack or bagged pack and for the first time have access to Suplhur Free sealed punnets which will interest retail customers using the patented Fresh Xpress pre-cooling technology which pre-cools grapes in one hour to capture extended shelf life. Please contact us to understand more about this unique technology and product range.

Disclaimer:

Information has come from a variety of sources and is largely summary articles. References are indicated. Where opinions are expressed they are of the writer, and do not necessarily represent the New Zealand Apple Industry. Fresh Fruits Company Ltd cannot be held responsible for damages which may be incurred as a result of any person acting upon information in this publication.

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