The first four container loads of Australian grapes have landed in Japan after market access was secured in early February.
Australian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said market access to Japan was a welcome boost for his country’s table grape export industry, which was valued at A$188m last year by the Australian Horticultural Exporters Association, using analysis from Fresh Intelligence Consulting.
“According to industry figures, the Japanese market could be worth up to A$40m over the next three to five years,” Joyce said in a release. “This is the sort of tangible outcome of our international trade and market access efforts that will help deliver better returns to the farmgate.''
Valleyfresh Exports’ Doug Hammonds estimates his company has handled 50 per cent of the Australian shipments to Japan so far.
Hammonds expects Australian exporters will encounter some initial challenges positioning their offering in a competitive Japanese grape market.
“We have sent some trial quantities of Red Globe and Crimson but it’s hard to compete on price on these varieties with the likes of Chile, which is Japan’s main Southern Hemisphere supplier,” he said.
“Our Thompson Seedless exports were shipped in March, at the tail end of our Thompson season, however, we expect to find a solid window for this variety over coming seasons.”
While Thompson will continue to be a key focus of Valleyfresh’s export programmes over coming seasons, Hammonds said the company would not abandon hope of developing the market for other Australian-grown varieties.
“Chile use to be a big supplier of citrus to Japan but they do very little there now because Australian exports have developed a reputation for being superior in quality,” Hammonds explained.
“We hope to do the same with grapes but it will take time. We have to show we have the quality to attract the price we are asking.”
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