Chilean exporters and authorities expected to have the protocol approved for the 2023-24 season, but an issue related with the Free Trade Agreement between Chile and the EU is holding it back.

The United States is anticipated to absorb approximately 57% of Chilean supplies, equivalent to around 35 million boxes.

Despite the head start in Coquimbo, harvests in the Valparaíso, Metropolitan and O’Higgins regions were much later due, in part, to a colder spring.

The East Coast will receive approximately 15 million of those boxes, and the West Coast 5 million.

High winter temperatures caused poor sprouting, which implies more work in greening, thinning, and harvesting, lower efficiency in all work, and generally lower yields.

Supply issues began in August when Hurricane Hilary struck California. From there, the industry witnessed a domino effect of adverse conditions.

So far, because there has been good movement of fruit within the U.S. market, grape quality has been strong.

As per the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association Frutas de Chile (formerly ASOEX) third estimate, over 62 million table grape boxes will be shipped to international markets this 2023-24 campaign.

According to Kurt Neuling, manager of the Transforma Fruticultura Sustentable Program (Perfruts), the situation "is serious and impacts sustainability, the rural world, and communities."

Members of the industry and exporters see this as a great opportunity to test out the system and see how it could be implemented in other regions of the country, as well as other export markets like the U.S.