Michael McDowall
Domestic Sales Manager
Grapes
Table grapes in the modern world have become a more and more important snack food, and this category continues to develop. With New Zealand’s temperate climate, all table grapes are imported, principally by ocean freight. Key supply countries are the United States, Australia and Chile.
USA
This is the main programme we run, from July until December. This timing coincides with the weather warming through spring and into summer; it also encompasses the period of the year when many functions and events occur, ideally suited to snack type foods.
Fruit is all grown in California’s San Joaquin Valley, stretching from south of Bakersfield to north of Fresno. Our long term supplier has been DJ Forry Co, now a part of Fruit Patch Inc, who provide us a range of varieties and colours to span our US grape sales window mentioned. As often as possible, we offer red, green and black varieties to maximise retail sales for our customers. While much emphasis is on seedless varieties, there are times when the best option may in fact be a seeded variety. New Zealand is some geographical distance from the US, and good strength is required to offer consumers a good product. Fruit is available in both loose pack and bagged.
Other supply
As New Zealand’s neighbour, Australia is a logical supplier of grapes. This programme runs from January to May, and involves a range of red and green varieties. Our key supplier is AF Exports, who source the majority of fruit from the Sunraysia area in North West Victoria. In some seasons we also source from Chile, which has a similar timing to Australia. But this is very much dependent on price, exchange rate and the Australian supply situation.