Inter-season grape

  • Published on 17/05/2017 - Published by BENOIT-CELEYRETTE Cécilia
  • FruiTrop n°248 , Page From 19 to 21
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More difficult than predicted

After harbouring big hopes in the early 2000s, Mediterranean exporters have had to revise their ambitions downward, after the shattering economic crisis and demand reverting to local European produce. However, some strategies have paid off, such as teaming up with foreign producers established in Europe, for seedless varieties in Northern Europe or seeded varieties in Southern Europe, in a split derived from the affinities between supplier countries and recipient markets.

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Just a slice of the cake and a few crumbs

In the early 2000s, the planting of modern varieties in the Mediterranean, especially seedless ones such as Sugraone, generated hopes of a recovery or even growth in exports from the three main supplier countries - Egypt, Morocco and Israel - in the inter-season niche, i.e. between the end of Southern Hemisphere production and the beginning of European production. After a brief honeymoon when imports from these countries to Europe practically doubled in five years to reach nearly 60 000 t at the end of the decade, the dynamic has faded, leading to a slowdown and stagnation of shipments. This is due to a combination of internal and external economic and political factors. Production has been hampered by increasing costs of inputs and labour in Israel, and to a lesser degree in Morocco, and by the Arab spring in Egypt. The external factors include the increasingly marked competition from Spanish production, mainly from the Murcia zone extending its production calendar, where seedless varieties represent nearly 70 % of surface areas. Italian production is not to be outdone, with planting rapidly increasing in Puglia for seedless varieties (> 20 %). However if we look more closely, Israel and Morocco have suffered most of all, since European market share was divided up according to historic partnerships. Hence Egypt is firmly established on the non-producing North European markets, especially the United Kingdom, while Morocco has its main presence in Southern Europe where local production is released earlier and earlier. Israel has only really maintained its market shares in Eastern Europe, where grape imports do not amount to much. 

table grapes - EU - imports from mediterranean
table grapes - EU - imports from mediterranean
table grapes - EU - imports from mediterranean in 2016
table grapes - EU - imports from mediterranean in 2016

Egypt plays its cards right

After a short hiatus attributable to the political crisis, the dynamic embarked on by Egyptian producers (from less than 1 000 t of exports in 1998 up to 115 000 t in 2015) still seems to be bearing fruit and even recovering, with the origin last year registering its best performance on the European market (56 000 t, i.e. + 15 % on the 3-year average). This can be explained both by its positioning on the North European markets and by the strategic choices made by Egyptian exporters to cultivate partnerships with foreign investors. This applies in particular to South African operators established on the European market, who are seeking to extend their campaign, as well as to Europeans aiming for an early-season presence, especially in Italy. Indeed the campaign starts with perfect timing for these operators: late April for open-field production in Upper Egypt, and polytunnel production in the north of the country, and in May for open-field production. The calendar could be earlier still, since while traditional production was mainly based in the centre of the Nile Delta, it has since extended westwards between Cairo and Alexandria, and in the eastern part of the Delta (Ismailia and Belbais), and is now drifting southward. It is continuing to extend in this direction with the Nile Valley major irrigation projects (Louxor and Assouan), but also toward the Toshka zone where major projects are underway. Year on year, the varietal range has been enriched with modern varieties, mainly seedless. Hence although the origin was initially known for its traditional Sultana/Thompson Seedless production, it has stepped up planting of white grape varieties such as Sugraone/Superior Seedless, topped up by Early Sweet and Perlette for the early niche, the red varieties Flame and Crimson Seedless, but also the seeded varieties Victoria or Red Globe. The European Union represents a major outlet for this produce, taking in just over 40 % of tonnages. The majority is however aimed at the main North European markets, such as the United Kingdom (approximately 40 % of imports into Europe) and the Netherlands (36 %), which forward the supply to other North European countries. The remaining volumes are divided mainly between Russia, Saudi Arabia and South-East Asia.

table grapes - EU - imports from mediterranean basin
table grapes - EU - imports from mediterranean basin

Morocco switching from North to South

Although Egypt has clearly taken the ascendancy on the North European markets, Morocco is also a major inter-season player, especially on the South European markets. However, after reaching 12 000 t in 2009, Moroccan exports have ebbed, stabilising at around 7 000 to 8 000 t since 2010. However, production has also increased through planting modern varieties, especially seedless ones such as Sugraone or Flame Seedless, aimed at the North European markets. The United Kingdom, previously one of the main target outlets, is now just the no.3 destination for the Moroccan grape with 1 000 t imported in 2016, under combined pressure from Egypt and Spain. Paradoxically, shipments to Spain have grown steadily, reaching more than 3 000 t/year. Market shares have also crumbled on the French market due to Italian competition, though Moroccan exports to France did still amount to nearly 2 000 t in 2016.

Export production is based in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, extending from Beni Mellal to Agadir. The vast majority of production is based around Marrakech (90 %). It involves in particular twenty or so producers, most within Aspert (Association of Table Grape Producers & Exporters), which have mainly developed seedless varieties. Some more traditional facilities have joined up to ARM (Moroccan Grape Association) to obtain their EurepGap certification and find alternative outlets to the saturated domestic market. Yet unlike the exporters group above, mainly focused on Northern Europe, they have instead targeted Southern Europe, based on the observation that they grow varieties suited to these markets (Prima, Italia, Muscat, Cardinal or Victoria), aimed at the early slot (May and June), thus topping up European production of these varieties.

And Israel falling back to the East

The efforts made by Israeli producers in the early 2000s to revitalise exports by planting modern varieties do not seem to have borne fruit. Planting mainly involved seedless white varieties such as Superior Seedless, Thompson Seedless, Early and Prime Seedless, topped up with some Red Globe, aimed mainly at the British market. Yet after peaking at 11 000 t in 2006, exports have fallen steadily down to just 2 000 t in 2016. Half of these volumes are shipped to the European market (1 000 to 1 300 t in recent years, as opposed to 7 000 t in 2005), with Eastern Europe taking the majority (700 t for Slovenia in 2016), and the remainder divided between the Netherlands (470 t) and France (100 t). The campaign begins fairly late, in mid-May, with covered production, and is hampered by the high costs of treatment products and labour. The table grape planted area extends from Eilat in the south to the Golan Heights in the north. The bulk of production is based in the Lachis zone, and in the Jordan Valley. There are also vineyards in the Gezer region and in Beer Tuvia

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