Global trade dynamics in table grapes

International trade in table grapes has tremendously expanded during the last decades, and grapes are nowadays worldwide produced, traded and consumed. The intensification of trade has been pushed by emerging traders that have changed the economic geography of grapes. Improving competiveness in global markets is a main goal for entrepreneurs and policymakers, and gaining market shares is the medal for winners. We empirically investigate the global dynamics in trade of table grapes from 1961 to 2011. In particular we have characterized the time series properties of the market shares for the leading grapes exporters countries. We have selected a large set of countries that includes the main exporters in the sixties and in the new millennium. We show how trends in market shares of historical exporters and emerging countries have differed during the last decades. Our comparative analysis provides useful insights to forecast the prospects for the international table grapes trade. Particular emphasis has been posed in exploring the tremendous increase of market shares for some countries as Turkey, China, Mexico, India and Egypt, in the Northern Hemisphere and Chile, South Africa Argentina, Brazil and Perù in the Southern Hemisphere.