Table grapes, production slows down but exports resist and supermarket purchases grow

Production is (slightly) slowing down and prices are higher (both for farmers and in shops) for table grapes, but consumption is growing and exports are holding up, at least in value. In a nutshell, this is the picture of the sector drawn by Ismea on the occasion of Luv, the trade fair dedicated to the sector currently taking place in Bari ( Puglia is the main producing region).

Information gathered by Ismea indicates for Italy a lower production of grapes both compared to 2023, due to a drop in the areas in production in the main areas (Bari, Barletta, Andria, Trani and Catania), and compared to the current production potential, due to drought or, on the contrary, downy mildew (generally associated with heavy rainfall).
But from the point of view of quality, "the grapes have an optimal colour and sugar content".
"In recent years, the statistics on the areas invested in table grapes in Italy have settled at around 47,700 hectares," the report explains, "with a very strong concentration in Puglia and Sicily. Recent data show, however, a dynamic replacement of old vines of traditional varieties with new plantings of mostly seedless varieties. The poor economic results achieved in recent years have encouraged many farmers, in fact, to uproot traditional varieties of seeded grapes (Vittoria, Palieri, Italia, Red Globe), replanting new varieties, especially seedless ones".

And this year will probably be remembered for the overtaking of the latter variety over the traditional. Overall, product availability is around 800 thousand tonnes, 98% from domestic production and the remaining 2% from imports. All this in a context in which European production is not particularly abundant, but where Spain expects a harvest 17% higher than the average 2019-2023 figure..

Export is expected to contract due to the reduction in supply, "but sharply rising price lists should ensure export sales in line with the record 2023". "The increase in average prices from €1.55 to €2.14/kg has led to an increase in revenue from €727 million in 2020, to €821 million in 2023" and "forecasts for thetrade balance are optimistic, since, as happened in 2023, the increase in the export price should compensate for the drop in volumes shipped," Ismea points out.

On the price front, the Institute for Agricultural Food Market Services notes that for the same reason the current marketing year sees an increase in prices at origin (i.e. at the farm gate) both compared to 2023 and to the average price for the three-year period 2021-2023; but there are exceptions for some varieties (e.g. Vittoria) and some markets that show negative variations.