On Thursday, August 8, the most anticipated event for the Chilean, Peruvian, and international table grape industry was held with more than 1,000 attendees and 60 sponsoring companies. The meeting brought together two of the leading associations of the fruit, the Table Grape Committee of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile (ASOEX) and the Association of Table Grape Producers of Peru (PROVID), who joined forces in the first Global Grape Convention to begin collaborative work between both countries to increase consumption of this fruit in international markets.
The table grape sector faces several challenges but also has many opportunities on the horizon. To analyze the industry’s roadmap, the event featured an international program offering informative conferences, specialized market analysis, ideas to glimpse new opportunities, marketing and communications strategies, and discussion panels, among other topics.
Ignacio Caballero, president of the ASOEX Table Grape Committee recalled the genesis of this event together with Provid. “We started talking about working together and what better than to have an instance where what we are thinking and working on can be coordinated together,” he said. “We did not know that it would come at this crucial moment for the grape industry, where we have just had a very good season, which both Chile and Peru ultimately needed, but we understand that this is circumstantial so we have to keep working.”
Caballero called for reflection and challenging of the five paradigms of the sector: The good season was a climate shock and now we must think in the medium term because things are going to be tough; the urgent need to increase demand to respond to the sustained growth of supply; forgetting about “the window” and thinking about what the consumer wants; that the competition between Chile and Peru is already history, since today they must act together in the face of the entire chain; and, finally, understanding who the industry competes with, since today it is no longer just in the fruit area, but also includes “healthy snacks.”
For his part, Manuel Yzaga, president of PROVID, emphasized, “Once again we open our doors to the entire world to make the practices and activities, as well as the value we generate, known to the general public. That is the most important thing, to talk beyond the fruit, to talk beyond the grapes. This is just the beginning, there is still much to discover and to add value. We play on the same field and we play at the same time to achieve the sustainability of the industry.”
Gustavo Yentzen, CEO of Yentzen Group, said, “We managed to foster a commercial debate that was more than just technical but constructive as well. It will boost innovation and competitiveness, uniting the associations of two relevant countries in the industry, such as Chile and Peru, focusing on the issues that we know affect the sector and, of course, integrating international experience.”
High-level program
The Global Grape Convention 2024 kicked off its program with the panel “Global Panorama For Grape Production In The World”, which featured the outstanding participation of América Ramírez from Decofrut, who analyzed the data on exports of this fruit at an international level, followed by Ignacio Caballero and Manuel Enrique Izaga, executives who analyzed the situation in their respective countries.
To delve into the diagnosis and evaluation of this global panorama, a group of renowned national and foreign leaders in the sector presented the challenges that table grape production, marketing, and logistics present today from a Latin American perspective.
Later, the panel “Consumer Response To New Varieties”, led by Chris Dubois of Fresh Food, Leader Teams at Circana, discussed the complexities of the Anglo-Saxon consumer, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, and Jerry Clode, founder of The Solution, who ventured into the potential of the Chinese consumer.
Rodrigo Barra, head of SAG’s Phytosanitary Regulation and Certification Department, spoke about the Systems Approach for Chilean table grapes to the United States, a milestone for the South American country after more than 20 years of negotiations with its northern neighbor. Barra stressed that this protocol must be carried out correctly, to ensure that no problems arise for the benefit of the entire grape sector.
In the afternoon, a group of leaders made up of importers and retail buyers and moderated by Iván Marambio, president of Fruits from Chile, jointly analyzed the challenges table grapes face in destination markets, and then gave the floor to Álvaro Luque, CEO of Avocados From México, who shared with the attendees the model of success of avocados and how this can be replicated in grapes.
To close the day, a team of recognized industry leaders invited attendees to think beyond previous seasons and project the table grape industry for 2035, evaluating collaborative work schemes to face the markets, and sharing valuable information on varietal replacement, volumes, and the development of new markets.
This unique event, highly anticipated by the entire industry, allowed the principal leaders of the table grape sector to be present and raise their past, current, and future challenges to contribute with an overview and a call to collaborate on the most important 2024 milestone for international table grapes – offering a magnificent platform to understand the variables that affect the growth and development of this crop.
