WHAT OUR GROWERS ARE SAYING

FROM COQUIMBO, CHILE:

“For Allison, we started packing this week from one orchard. Brix is 19 to 20, size 700 up and full color. For the other orchard, the Allisons have a range of brix between 11 and 15 and is still coloring and growing.” – Agricom Ltda.

“We are finishing the Thompson harvest this week. Next week we will harvest Crimson, Allison and Krissy varieties.” – Cerro Campanario

FROM VALPARAISO, CHILE:

“The ARRA15 is very healthy and clusters have great color and form. For the Crimsons, we are harvesting beautiful clusters. Shatter is very low and grapes very healthy.” – Exportadora Quintay

FROM METROPOLITANA, CHILE:

“The Thompsons will be ready to harvest this week. Most of the fruit is XL size, the color is green and the brix average 17.” – Agricom Ltda.

“We are very happy how things are going. Bortytis is getting stopped by chemical products, and harvesters are quite delicate and smooth to harvest and clean the bunch. The finished product looks great. Good sizing, sweetness and firm grapes”. – Agroindustrias Quilaco

FROM O’HIGGINS, CHILE:

“The Sweet Celebrations are very sweet, crunchy and full color. The average size is 700 and 900 code.” – GLS International

Green seedless

VARIETIES WE ARE CURRENTLY SHIPPING

Sweet Globe, Thompson Seedless, Sugraone

VARIETIES WE WILL BE SHIPPING SOON

Thompson Seedless, ARRA15

OUR OUTLOOK

Losses due to rains in Chile are substantial, and the greatest effect will be felt on the green seedless. Many growers in Santiago to the South lost their full production, and only those who heavily invested in protective elements such as covering their grapes and utilizing helicopters to dry out vineyards will be spared to any extent. Peruvian volume from Ica is mostly finished, with only a handful still packing. Supplies will progressively tighten week over week from here. Our SUNRAYS® program will continue, but with reduced volumes.

BEST UPCOMING WEEKS TO PROMOTE

N/A.

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Red Seedless

VARIETIES WE ARE CURRENTLY SHIPPING

Allison

VARIETIES WE WILL BE SHIPPING SOON

Allison, Crimson Seedless, ARRA29, Timco

OUR OUTLOOK

The rains in Chile will likely have a larger impact on supplies of red seedless than initially reported. Estimated losses now range anywhere from 20% to as much as 40% in the vast spread of regions that experienced rain. We expect to see a gradual tightening of availability on reds further down the road. For now, the Ica region of Peru continues to ship decent volumes, although those will be winding down over the next week or two. There are also still supplies of late harvesting proprietary red seedless grown in the northern parts of Chile that were not impacted by the rains. The SUNRAYS® red program will see slight reductions, but we expect to have steady supplies throughout the remainder of the Chilean deal.

BEST UPCOMING WEEKS TO PROMOTE

Early March.

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BLACK Seedless

VARIETIES WE ARE CURRENTLY SHIPPING

Unknown Variety

VARIETIES WE WILL BE SHIPPING SOON

Unknown variety, Sweet Favors

OUR OUTLOOK

The rains will have a large impact on black seedless. It is difficult to predict how much we will see in March onwards, but total percentage losses should be somewhere between what we see on the green and red varieties. As while losses will be high, production of newer late season varieties increased quite a bit last season.

BEST UPCOMING WEEKS TO PROMOTE

Early March.