After bringing in quite a bit of Chilean fruit last year, Grapeco is once again investing in the segment, bringing in fruit to both coasts with a full lineup of blacks, reds, greens and flavor varieties. Lane is no stranger to working with Chilean grapes, having been handling them for more than 15 years, so it was natural that Grapeco would become involved.
“Last year was a very unusual year where the front half of the season was early and the back half was late, and it seems like every year harvest timing is a little bit different,” Lane said. “Nevertheless, you have to have strong fruit to do a good job and we have quality fruit.”
Chile and Peru, which run about the same time, both help the company bridge the gap between California and Mexico.
Last year, Grapeco marketed close to 700,000 cases of Chilean grapes.
“We pack two- and three-pound clamshells with a lineup of extremely good varieties,” Lane said. “We start extremely early, right before Christmastime and we will finish up right before we start in Mexico. We’re not one of the bigger ones, but we’re one of the ones with the best quality.”
He explained that Chile has been a little slower with introducing some of the newer varieties, so there’s more traditional varieties of grapes than any other region. Those that are most popular are grapes such as Sweet Globe, Autumn Crisp, Jack’s Salute, Sweet Celebration and Allison.
“Things look to be high-quality this year,” Lane said. “It looks to have decent volumes. Estimates are around 62 million.”
One of the biggest challenges with working with Chilean grapes, Lane noted, is if you do have special packs, the fruit is 14-18 days away, so it’s harder to move on a dime, compared to grapes coming in from California, which is in its own backyard.
“You can’t turn them around really quickly when it comes to changing pack styles or changing bags; it takes three weeks to a month,” Lane said.
The company plans to grow the Chilean grape business at a steady pace in the years ahead and expect steady growth with the best fruit available.
