Fresh Table Grapes

Seedless and seeded table grapes by Brix, berry size and bunch weight, 8.2 kg cartons by the reefer container

Table grapes are bought on variety, colour, berry size and sugar. The UNECE FFV-19 standard requires a refractometric index of at least 16° Brix, or a lower reading provided the sugar/acid ratio is at least 18:1 between 14° and 16° Brix and 20:1 between 12.5° and 14° Brix; the EU marketing standard (Regulation (EU) 2023/2429) sets minimums of 14° Brix for seedless varieties, 13° for other seeded varieties and 12° for Alphonse Lavallée, Cardinal and Victoria, with a satisfactory sugar/acid ratio for all. The minimum bunch weight is 75 g for Extra Class and Class I, and Class I and Class II lots may carry up to 10% by weight of sound loose berries on top of the quality tolerances. Buyers add the variety, berry calibre, colour and the condition of the stems to the specification. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations put fresh grapes (HS 0806.10) at USD 10.77 billion: Peru at 558,000 MT and an average USD 3,094/MT, Chile at 527,000 MT at USD 2,565, China at 594,000 MT at USD 1,563, Italy at 379,000 MT at USD 2,584, South Africa at 400,000 MT at USD 2,096, India at 310,000 MT at USD 1,209, the USA at 263,000 MT at USD 3,213, Mexico at 219,000 MT, Spain at 167,000 MT, Turkiye at 115,000 MT and Egypt at 110,000 MT.

The southern hemisphere carries the northern winter. Peru harvests from October to April, north to south: Piura, Lambayeque and La Libertad from October to December and Ica, Lima and Arequipa from January to April, and its growers' association counts the crop in 8.2 kg boxes. Chile ships from December to May with the peak in January to March, South Africa from mid-November to mid-April, and India's Nashik harvest runs from early February to early April. Grapes are carried at about -1 to 0°C and 90-95% relative humidity, with continuous-release sulphur dioxide pads inside box liners against Botrytis, and keep two to six months depending on variety. Chilean loads run at about 2,160 cartons to a 40-ft reefer, around 20 pallets. The documents follow the destination: a phytosanitary certificate from the origin's plant protection organisation, GlobalG.A.P. certification for European retail, residues within the destination's maximum residue levels, and a cold-treatment protocol for fruit-fly markets; China requires Peruvian grapes to be held at a pulp temperature of 1.5°C or below for at least 19 days, and Peru's SENASA began certifying cold treatment in refrigerated ship holds at Paracas in December 2024. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers table grapes from packers and exporters in these origins against the phytosanitary certificate and an independent inspection at loading where the buyer wants it. Cargo moves on FOB, CFR and CIF terms in reefer containers, with carriers' schedules showing about 20 days from Callao to Rotterdam. Send the variety or colour, berry size, carton weight and packing, weekly volume and discharge port.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.