Rafael Rodriguez, president of Uvanova, spoke with Freshfruitportal.com about the current state of the fruit, its markets, prices and the performance of the Systems Approach.

The 2025 Chilean table grape season began with optimism among growers, who highlighted the fruit's good quality, and the opportunity to export under the Systems Approach protocol to the U.S.

Table grape exports will be led by new white and red varieties, with 21.1 million boxes of white grapes and 18.6 million boxes of red grapes, marking the first time that white varieties will surpass red ones in total volume.

Freshfruitportal.com spoke with the commercial manager of Exportadora RIOblanco, Nicolas Damm, who said that currently in the U.S. market, there is room for Peruvian and Chilean fruit.

This year, Chile got the approval to export table grapes to the U.S. market under the Systems Approach, sending more than 8,000 boxes of the fruit from the Atacama region under this new protocol.

These shipments are expected to generate returns of $107 million for Chile, especially benefiting producers and regions approved to implement this phytosanitary protocol.

This is the second consecutive season that the Chilean Table Grape Committee expects growth in shipments.

The complaint says the authorization unlawfully abandons traditional, time-tested safeguards and exposes U.S. grape producers to significant risks and costs, including those related to invasive pests.

Representative from the phytosanitary certification sub-department of SAG, Jaime Álvarez, outlined the details of the program and provided recommendations to producers who wish to be part of the initiative.

The approval is expected to improve competitiveness in the face of an increasingly ruthless table grape market, the Chilean grape sector has said.