Peru Grape Heartland Ships First US Cargo

Ica, the desert region behind about half of all Peru grape exports, has sent its first cargo of the 2026-27 season to the United States. Peru’s agriculture ministry announced the shipment on Tuesday 13 October, and SENASA, the national farm health service, certified the fruit.

The news matters to American shoppers, because the United States buys about half of all Peru grape exports. Peru vies with China as the world’s top table grape exporter and competes with Chile for American buyers.

Peru’s Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation, known by its Spanish initials Midagri, said Ica had officially opened its grape export campaign for 2026-27. The first shipment of the new season from Ica went to the United States, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday 13 October.

The cargo was certified by SENASA, Peru’s national farm health service, which inspects fields and packing plants against the rules of each buying country. With that system in place, Peruvian growers can sell their grapes in 98 foreign markets, the ministry said.

Farmers in the Ica valley grow 50 grape varieties, Midagri said, among them Sweet Globe, Autumn Crisp, Ivory, Timpson, Sweet Celebration and Candy Dreams. Provid, the association of Peru grape growers, told the Lima business daily Gestión that licensed, proprietary varieties made up 87% of exports.

Ica accounts for about 50% of Peru’s grape exports, followed by Piura in the north with 35% and Lambayeque with 5%, according to Midagri. In the last campaign, SENASA certified 351,304 tonnes of grapes from Ica for 44 foreign markets.

That fruit came from 614 farms, mainly in the province of Ica, with 9,921 hectares (about 24,500 acres), and in Pisco, with 1,418 hectares. Smaller vineyards lie in Chincha, with 182 hectares, and Nasca, with 104 hectares.

The north is the other pillar of the Peru grape season. SENASA said on 29 September that Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad and Áncash exported more than 319,000 tonnes in 2025-26, about 46% of the national total.

North and south are diverging this season, according to Provid’s latest forecast, reported by the farm news site Agraria.pe on 9 October. Provid expects northern shipments to drop 28% after an early harvest and smaller berries, while the south, led by Ica, should grow 6%.

Midagri calls Peru the world’s leading grape exporter, ahead of Chile, the United States and Italy. The US Department of Agriculture’s December 2025 world outlook listed Peru as the top table grape exporter in 2024-25, with 690,000 tonnes.

The same report forecast that China would draw level with Peru at 770,000 tonnes in 2025-26, on growing sales to Southeast Asia. Peru and Chile, by contrast, ship mostly to North America and Europe, where they compete with each other, the USDA said.

Midagri puts Peru grape exports in the 2025-26 campaign at 729,000 tonnes, mainly to the United States, the Netherlands, Mexico, Britain, China, Canada and Spain. Provid valued the season’s grape exports at US$2.07 billion, up 1% on the season before.

Provid’s figures, reported by Gestión in May, showed volume up 4% at 86.4 million boxes of 8.2 kilos, with 52% going to the United States. Europe took 22%, and Provid’s general manager, Luis Miguel Vegas, called it a more price-sensitive market.

Table grapes rank with blueberries, avocados and coffee among Peru’s most emblematic farm exports, Midagri said. They give a farm leg to an economy better known abroad for the mining that dominates Peru’s natural resources .

For US shoppers, the Peru grape season means a steady flow of imported grapes into American stores over the coming months. The United States is the world’s largest table grape importer and bought a record 909,000 tonnes in 2024-25, the USDA said.

Supply could be tighter this time, because Provid expects Peru grape exports to fall 9% to 78.7 million boxes, or about 645,000 tonnes. Growth in Peru’s farm exports has already slowed on fears of El Niño this year.

Since 24 July, Washington has charged an extra 12.5% tariff on many Peruvian goods in a forced-labour trade case, the official gazette El Peruano reported. Goods worth 45% of US imports from Peru are exempt, but the Peruvian trade site Infomercado listed fresh grapes among those left out.

The US measure does not find that Peru exports goods made with forced labour, Peru’s trade ministry said, but faults its import controls. The ministry said in July it would push for a review of the US forced-labour tariff on Peruvian goods .

Midagri did not say on which day the first cargo sailed, from which port, or which companies shipped it. It also gave no value for the shipment and no forecast for the whole season.

The weather is the biggest unknown, because El Niño, a periodic warming of the Pacific, tends to bring heat and heavy rain to Peru’s coast. Vegas told the farm news site Agraria.pe in August that planted area will grow, but volume may not rise in step because of hotter weather.

Provid said its forecast could still change, because some vineyards have not started picking yet. It is also unclear whether Washington will revise the extra tariff, as Peru’s trade ministry wants.

Peru’s table grape season usually runs from early October to late March, Provid says, and warm weather brought this year’s harvest forward. Ica, the main growing region, opened its 2026-27 export season with a first cargo to the United States, announced on 13 October 2026.

About half of Peru grape exports come from Ica, a desert region on the southern coast, according to the agriculture ministry. Piura in the north supplies about 35% and Lambayeque about 5%.

Peru’s agriculture ministry calls it the world’s leading grape exporter, and the USDA listed it as the top table grape exporter in 2024-25. The USDA expects China to draw level with Peru at 770,000 tonnes in 2025-26.

The United States took 52% of Peru grape shipments in 2025-26, according to Provid, the growers’ association. Provid put the season’s total at 86.4 million boxes of 8.2 kilos, or about 708,000 tonnes.

Since 24 July, the United States has charged an extra 12.5% tariff on many Peruvian goods in a forced-labour trade case. Fresh grapes are not on its exemption list, according to the Peruvian trade site Infomercado, and Peru’s trade ministry wants the measure reviewed.

Sources: Midagri (Peru’s agriculture ministry), press release , 13 October 2026; SENASA, press release , 13 October 2026; SENASA, northern grape regions , 29 September 2026; US Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service: Fresh Apples, Grapes, and Pears, World Markets and Trade , December 2025; Gestión , 11 May 2026; Agraria.pe , 27 August 2026; Agraria.pe , 9 October 2026; Agraria.pe , 26 August 2026; El Peruano , 24 July 2026; Infomercado , 24 July 2026; Panamericana , 14 October 2026.

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