A new report from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI) says Australian table grape growers could benefit from a surge in orders from Hong Kong, with incomes in the country rising along with demand for fruit.
The report states Hong Kong imported A$80m worth of Australian grapes last year, up 141 per cent on 2008's figures, but the industry's focus lies in opening up access to other key Asian markets.
Although Australian growers can export fruit to Hong Kong, they cannot ship directly to mainland China, but Australian Table Grape Association chief executive Jeff Scott hopes this will soon change.
Australian government officials and representatives from the Australian Table Grape Association have been working with China on a protocol that could pave the way for exports to begin, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
''We're hopeful that that's going to happen in the very near future,'' Mr Scott said.
He added that the size, sweetness and colour of Australian grapes made them ideally suited to the Chinese market.
''Once we gain direct access, we would hope that China would perhaps become our major country for export, and obviously based on the statistics, we're anticipating some huge demand.''
Approval is also being sought for grape exports to Japan and South Korea to begin.
''In time - it could be 12 months, it could be two years - we could have access probably to every Asian country and that's our major export focus. There's enormous potential for growth in all those countries,'' Mr Scott said.
Table grape exports to other Asian countries like Thailand and Vietnam have also grown strongly in recent years and grapes were Australia's biggest horticultural export last year, with sales worth around A$190m.
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