Mexican table grape production will be hitting promotable volumes in the last week of May. Juan Laborin, who leads that industry through the Hermosillo-based grape association AALPUM, strongly urges retail merchandisers to run promotions through the end of June.
Green, red and black Mexican grapes will all be available in volumes for promotion by the last week of May, Laborin said. Red Globes will be available in the second week of June, he added.
This year, Mexico is producing between 15 million and 20 million boxes of table grapes. This is down about 15 percent from 2019 levels, but is still plenty of grapes to promote rolling into the early days of summer. Accompanying good grape volumes is a high level of quality, Laborin noted.
Overall weather conditions were good for Mexican vineyards this spring, setting up a good quality crop. On May 8, temperatures in Hermosillo, Sonora, had dropped from a weeklong bout with extreme heat of 100 degrees. The hot spell slowed the development of sugars, thus the sweetness of the fruit. With temperatures dropping, grape Brix levels should be rising to ideal sweetness, he said. “We expect the weather to be normal now, until we finish.”
Late Chilean grapes had disrupted the Mexican grape market in April and early May, but Laborin expected market stability to begin in May and run through the remainder of the Mexican deal. AALPUM has just released a video assuring customers that Mexican grape growers and packers have taken measures to protect their workers and customers from COVID-19.
The video stresses the point that the Mexican grape industry was already heavily invested in food safety and socially responsible practices. Therefore, making extra precautions to guard against coronavirus infections has not been a large step.
Laborin said growers in Guaymas, which is south of other Sonora grape-producing areas, began shipping the state’s first table grapes — Perlettes — on May 4. Growers in the largest production area, surrounding Hermosillo, were to begin shipping Early Sweets and Primes about May 11. Black varieties were soon to follow, and the following week Flames were to come into the market. With increasing young production well to the south in the state of Jalisco, that deal, which began in the first week of April, was winding down on May 8, with Cotton Candy and Ivory.
Seen above are Juan Laborin, director general of AALPUM, with Marco Molina, who heads Grupo Molina/Fresh Farms.
