San Juan Turns to New Grape Varieties to Rebuild Argentina’s Export Position

San Juan’s export position has weakened

Argentina’s San Juan province is seeking to rebuild a table-grape industry that was once one of its principal agricultural export businesses. The initiative comes after years of declining competitiveness, aging vineyards and continued production of varieties that no longer match demand in international markets.

Diario de Cuyo reports that these pressures have steadily reduced San Juan’s presence abroad. Argentina has consequently become a market that consumes more grapes than it produces for the international market, highlighting the extent to which the province’s former export position has contracted.

Licensed varieties are central to the proposed renewal

Producers, business associations and the provincial government are working to introduce new licensed table-grape varieties. Discussions with international companies, Argentina’s national Agriculture Secretariat and the National Service for Agrifood Health and Quality, known as SENASA, are intended to secure the plant material required to begin replacing obsolete vineyards.

San Juan has already incorporated varieties intended for raisin production, providing a recent precedent for this type of renewal. Export table grapes, however, present a broader commercial challenge. Producers must deliver the varieties buyers want, while also meeting requirements for quality, appearance, yield and the timing of market availability.

The price gap in Argentina’s domestic wholesale market illustrates the problem. According to Diario de Cuyo, table grapes from San Juan can sell in the Buenos Aires Central Market for approximately half the price of grapes entering from Brazil or Chile. The disparity points not only to pricing pressure but also to weaknesses affecting the wider production and marketing chain.

Planting material is only the first constraint

Industry participants say varietal renewal will require more than individual investment by growers. Priorities include legal certainty for plant imports, technical assistance, financing, predictable operating conditions and a commercial strategy extending from vineyard establishment to sales in international markets.

The timetable makes early action important. If planting material becomes available by the end of 2027, the new vines would still require about two and a half years to begin producing. Commercial recovery would therefore come well after the first plants enter the province, while every delayed season would push the return to foreign markets further back.

San Juan retains production experience, technical knowledge and natural conditions suited to table grapes. Its challenge is to convert those advantages into varieties and specifications that current buyers will accept. Without that change, the province risks continuing to supply grapes with limited export prospects and a substantial discount in its own wholesale market. The proposed renewal offers a route back to international shelves, but its success will depend on coordinated decisions on plant access, vineyard investment and market development.