Peru: Europe is willing to pay high prices but exporters are having trouble getting enough fruit

(Agraria.pe) The first major arrivals of grapes from Peru to the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom occurred in early October, with steady growth each week. The market is almost empty, as weather conditions brought forward the end of the hemisphere season. "The weather is becoming more unstable and is no longer a one-off thing. There are more and more problems around the world affecting all products and grapes have not been spared this year," says Rob Cullum of Pacific Produce. "Peru has the capacity to produce grapes during most months of the year, but the tendency in the Piura region has been to increase volume later to adjust to North American and Asian demand, leaving Europe to consume local crops from Greece, Spain and Italy during the autumn. Brazil, which is the other southern hemisphere producer in this window, has had bad weather and good local markets, limiting its ability to supply the missing volume, so demand from Peru is now intense to try to close the gap ...