Grape Guide

US grape volumes to Korea increase in mid-October as this is when the fruit has tariff free access to the market. Korea implements tariffs from May 1st to October 15th when domestic product is available. 

Some wholesalers can be exporters themselves while others would have strong connections with exporters. Both small and big farmers are well experienced because grape management is more complex than any other fruit. This is because grapes are grown in bunches and aside from being kept intact in a bunch, all the grapes have to be in good shape. This is why farmers just focus on growing the fruit and stay away from exporting themselves. Only big exporters, conglomerate level, will contact farmers and make a contract before the season. Other small exporters would go to the farm and negotiate. For exports, there are packhouses specializing in packaging per destination. 99% of the farmers don't have their own packing facilities because packaging requires skilled packers and pre-cooling and cold storage coordination. There are specific facilities for given destinations thus, not all packing facilities can export to China and the EU. There are around 2,000 renowned packing facilities. 

Supply Chain: Farmers -> Transportation -> Wholesale, Processing, Packing -> Retail or Exporters.

Big exporters usually own their farms and buy from local farms to meet demand. Also, exporting companies conduct their farm inspection before shipping the product out, and the inspection process is proceeded depending on the destination country.

Two types of farming grapes: 

• Open (Farm trees), Closed (Covered top of threes). In the case of closed farms, it withholds the heat. Therefore, grapes ripen earlier than on open farms.
  
• Farms/exporters know to which markets they are selling. For example, grapes with shorter shelf life usually go to the domestic market.
  

Contract: Before the season starts, 70% of grapes are reserved by international buyers, and only 30% are left in the market. Also, buyers never sign long-term contracts as production volume and price level varies depending on the season. Some varieties are limited, so arrangements are needed to obtain the quantity and agreed price.

Source. Emad fathy Tridge OM Egypt

Most suppliers usually buy from local farms if they don’t own them. Usually, exporters(suppliers) work independently, but in many cases, different suppliers use the same packing house to pack their grapes.

China, Italy, and the United States were the largest producers of grapes in 2019, with China ranking first with a production volume of 14.28M MT followed by Italy with 7.90M MT of production, and the United States coming at the third spot with an average of 6.23M MT of production.

The harvest season is from January-April and the crop is mainly produced in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

The United States, Germany, and the Netherlands were the top importers of grapes in 2020. United States had an import value of USD 1,887,761K, followed by Germany with an import value of USD 801,559K, and for the third spot as a leading importer, the Netherlands had an import value of USD 800,127K.

China, Peru, and Chile were the top exporters of grapes in 2020. China's export value was USD 1,212,702K, followed by Peru with an export value of USD 991,105K Chile with an export value of USD 924,774K.

The top destinations are the Middle East, EU, and ASEAN. EU is considered the most attractive market to the suppliers because it is stable and big. The price is high as well if the quality is guaranteed.

According to the APEDA, (Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Development Authority in India), these are the twelve commercially grown types of grapes in India, ordered in four categories:

Coloured seeded - Bangalore Blue, Gulabi (Muscat)

Coloured seedless - Beauty Seedless and Sharad Seedless

White seeded - Anab-e-Shahi, Dilkhush (clone of Anab-e-Shahi)

White seedless - Perlette, Pusa Seedless, Thompson Seedless, and its clones Tas-A-Ganesh, Sonaka and Manik Chaman

The local transportation infrastructure is well established. The major producing region is quite far from the port. The major port is the Maharashtra state. Sea freight is usually used for international shipping but airfreight could be used as well. If there is an urgency, airfreight is used. Optimal shipping days would be around 25 days. 

Typically for grapes, they are picked up from farms, stored into plastic boxes, then loaded on trucks to be transported to the packing houses. Most suppliers want to make sure that they don’t transport their grapes to far packing houses, so they usually use the packing houses closer to the farms they are packing up the product from. Grapes are usually shipped in containers via sea. Main ports are Alexandria, Damietta, Ain Sokhna & Port Said.

Packing is very important for grapes. The packaging can either extend the life of the grape or it can make them rot faster. Depending on the variety of grapes, there are different methods for packing as well. Grapes have many packaging options available that are healthy for the grape. In the end, within those options, it is really up to the person selling how they would like to market/brand their grape.

The two most common ways of packing grapes are in bags and plastic boxes. These bags and boxes are designed so that the grape can maintain freshness and quality but can also breathe. Most bags or boxes have small holes in them to allow for circulation and possibly draining any water. There are many options but two possibilities include clear plastic clamshells with holes in the bottom and perforated polyethylene bags. These bags or boxes are then placed into cardboard boxes to be taken to the distributor. 

Thermocol boxes with pouches or punnet packaging inside.

Two types of packaging: Plastic Punnets and Carry bags. The types are dependent on the buyer's request.

For the pre-export process, farmers harvest by cutting the grapes from the tree based on the destination and variety ordered. They don't store grapes before the order, but if there are specific requests, they can cut them beforehand and go to the packaging house to do special packing. Usually, cold storage trucks are used for transport to maintain the cold chain, except in cases where farms are near the packing houses. 

Source: Emad fathy OM Tridge Egypt

Different rules and packaging styles depend on the destination, and it is highly advised that packaging be done immediately. When the orders are confirmed, the grapes are taken to the packing house, around 40-50 km from the farm. Most common types of packaging: 5kg carton with 10 clamshell, each 0,5 kg, or 4.5 kg cartons with either plastic bags or paper bags. Also, there are variants with 9 kg cartons, with plastic or paper bags inside.

Before loading, they inspect the product and how the packaging has been done. The grapes have to be shipped in temperature-controlled containers. The temperature differs based on the destination country. 1-1.5 degrees for China. Before sending to China, the loading port is closely inspected, including the necessary documents. For payments, FOB and CIF are mainly used. Main ports for export via sea are: Damietta & Port Said.

According to the APEDA, (Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Development Authority in India), to export to the European Union, it’s necessary to monitor agro chemicals and other contaminants’ residues. It’s also necessary to grade the grapes according to the Agmark standards. The full process can be found in the APEDA. 

To export to China, the APEDA mentions it’s necessary that exporters and farmers enlist for official registry/renewal in the Indian Ministry of Agriculture (IMOA) since it is a requisite that the official list is forwarded to the Chinese authorities beforehand. It’s also necessary to follow the full Protocol of Phytosanitary Requirements agreed upon the IMOA and the Chinese Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quality of the People’s Republic of China (AQSIQ), which can be found in full in the APEDA. 

• Harvesting, sorting, and grading.
  

• Transportation & cool chain, to maintain the optimum condition to deliver high-quality products.
  

• Pesticide traces, the whole plantation, and the production cycle have to be controlled to make sure that the final product is safe.
  

• Brix & acidity level.
  

• Berry appearance.
  

• Berry color.
  

• Bunch shape.
  

• Berry flavor and texture: crisp, sweet pulp with a delicate.
  

• Fruits maturity.
  

• Insects and disease damage.
  

• Physical damage.
  

Government phytosanitary inspectors inspect the cutting process right from the farm and issue the certificates. From cutting the berries to loading, quality checks are done by randomly examining the color, crunchiness, and berry size. The inspector also checks the packaging process. The buyer can opt to hire a third party inspector, but this isn't done often as these have undergone three inspection processes by the government. The exporters are mainly responsible when there are quality-related problems.

The documents required to export Indian grapes are:

-Phytosanitary certificates

-Fumigation certificate

-Packhouse recognition certificate

-Certificate of Authorization issued by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection (DMI)

-Fumigation certificate for wooden packing material

-Agmark grading certificate

-Copy of the contract/LC

There are no special regulations required for grapes, only export requirements imposed by the Egyptian government which lasts 2-3 years. In the case of some varieties(ex. Sugarone), they change the name to superior variety to avoid paying the royalty cost.

The main competitors for Egyptian grapes are Italy and Spain. However, as seasons are not very long in Europe, Egypt has a comparative advantage over the European grape supply. 

The European market has the highest demand for Egyptian grapes, and there is a rising demand in Asia, Africa, and Brazil.

• Brazil: However, Egyptian grapes need to go through a specific treatment process that can possibly shorten the shelflife of grapes -> bottleneck