A major issue for both the previous and the current grape season in India, remains the problems with the Red Sea route, says Amit Chopde, CEO of Indian fresh produce exporter Chopde Farms and Exports: “The previous Indian grape export season was really difficult, due to longer transit times as the Red Sea issue has still not been resolved after all this time. The fact that this problem keeps lingering on is affecting Indian fresh produce exporters a lot.”
The weather in India has played nice, helping the grape cultivation in most areas, with the exception of some areas growing early grapes, Chopde explains. “Looking at the grape cultivation specifically, we’re currently seeing clear weather, suitable for the grapes. This means overall production will not be affected in the upcoming harvest in general, although some early areas of the crop were affected by past rains, after early pruning. As a result, we expect there will be less crop available for the early part of the season, compared to previous years. However, the grape production area has had good monsoon rains and the water reservoir is adequately filled, meaning the harvested grapes should remain available until very late in the season.”
Overall, both Russia and Europe remain important markets for the grape exports from India, Chope states: “Currently, Russia has a good demand for grapes, connected to the New Year sales. Already, some exporters started to pack in lower volumes, as availability is actually quite limited at the moment. Apart from Russia, India mainly depends upon the European market. In Europe, demand for Indian grapes is at a normal level. And availability in India is also good. So production volumes will not have much impact on the Indian grape export volume to Europe.”
Chopde emphasizes that the Red Sea issues are the biggest thorn in the sides of fresh produce exporters in India. “As stated before, there are however, problems for the logistical side of things, as the Red Sea route is still closed for our shipments to Europe. As a result, the costs for shipping freight is significantly, and the transit time has also increased by two weeks. Due to this, exporters are looking for other alternative market0, such as Russia and the Middle East.”
“For the coming weeks, we expect weather will be good and the harvest will also be good as a result. However, we really hope that the Red Sea issue will finally be resolved, as this would make our export season so much easier and less costly,” Chopde concludes.
