Representatives of Frutas de Chile, Provid from Peru and Mexico Table Grapes announced the official start of the Global Grape Group (GGG), an entity conceived for the long-term sustainability of the table grape industry and to boost its consumption in the United States market. The launch took place within the framework of the Global Produce & Floral Show, held recently in the US city of Anaheim.
The launch event was held at the Hyatt Regency Orange County hotel, bringing together table grape producers and exporters from Chile, Peru and Mexico, as well as players from the logistics chain, importers, retailers, breeders and media.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Manuel Yzaga, president of Provid Peru; Marcelo Vanegas, president of Mexico Table Grapes and Iván Marambio, president of Frutas de Chile.
The alliance emerges at a challenging time for the fresh grape industry. In the last eight years, the combined supply of table grapes from Chile, Peru and Mexico to the United States market (the largest in consumption) grew by 41%, reaching 100 million boxes exported last year, with a projection to exceed 110 million in the coming years. However, demand in the US has grown only 3% in the same period, and per capita consumption has stagnated, going from 3.9 kilograms in 2005 to 3.8 kilograms currently.
This imbalance creates a risk of saturation, as when the supply volume exceeds 3.5 million boxes per week, prices tend to fall drastically, as evidenced last season, reaching an unsustainable level of USD 18 per box.
To address this situation, the GGG was created under the conviction that it is possible to generate actions for greater consumption. Thus, the table grape is presented as “more than a fruit”, a “healthy snack par excellence” available 12 months a year.
The strategy detailed by the group focuses on increasing global consumption (starting with the US), providing information for better market decisions, and promoting sustainability.
Among the initiatives already underway are the publication of a report with information from the different origins, the selection of the Ro2media agency for the promotion campaign, as well as the launch of the “Have a Grape Day” campaign in March of this year, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that officially begins the group’s work.
During the ceremony, the structure of the GGG was also presented, which, in addition to the founding members, seeks to add other associations such as the California Table Grape Commission and SATI from South Africa, inviting the entire value chain to join.
Ignacio Caballero, executive director of the Table Grape Committee of Frutas de Chile, explained that although the group starts with these three founding members, the invitation is open to all players in the value chain: farmers, exporters, importers, sellers, media and logistics.
“This, without a doubt, is an important day for the global table grape industry. With the formation of this group we are facing the great challenge that is the excess supply and the stagnation of demand.
“For this reason, convinced that strong and joint actions are required, the GGG has been legally formed to face these challenges,” stated Caballero.
We are going to start operating in the United States, where we have already launched the ‘Have a Grape Day’ campaign so that every consumer in this market consumes a grape, every day, thereby increasing the benefit for their health. For this reason, education is key within the actions to inform about the attributes of this fruit. Today, the invitation is open to all stakeholders to join this beautiful challenge that we hope will help the growth of the grape industry,” said the executive.
For his part, Sergio Lugo, executive director of Mexico Table Grapes, observed that “we are very excited about this great event for the official launch of the Global Grape Group. It is an initiative that has been worked on for about three years, during which both Frutas de Chile and Provid and Mexico Table Grapes have refined ideas that today are materialized in this official launch. The intention is to integrate the entire chain that is part of the marketing and production of table grapes.”
“We have been working with great impetus to achieve, first; the launch of the group and the next thing is to start working on the campaign. We witnessed that, during the launch, many people were very impressed with the information we presented, so, God willing, we hope that the group’s work will be very beneficial for the entire table grape industry,” added Lugo.
“The Global Grape Group is an extremely important initiative to strengthen the positioning of table grapes in the markets. That is what we are seeking, to increase the consumption of table grapes, also considering the increase in global supply. On this occasion, we have invited different industry players, for example, breeders, distributors, and we are truly inviting the different actors to join the GGG initiative,” pointed out Luis Miguel Vega, general manager of the Association of Table Grape Producers of Peru (Provid).
