Fresh Farms said time is right to promote California grapes

Due to a frost that occurred during the growing cycle, Fresh Farms, a leading shipper of table grapes, is expecting lighter volume from its California production. The company has stated that it expects California production to be down between 10 and 12 percent and that the quality of the grapes they have are excellent.

“While it’s true we are seeing hot weather push the greens harvest earlier, it is the same as last season for the industry and reds don’t color as fast when it’s that hot. But for our company, Molina farmed Sweet Globes and Scarlet Royals and we have had excellent consistency in size, color and Brix. A good volume of our Sweet Globe crop has been going to export this season as the size was really large and the Brix was well over 18, 19 and 20 going out,” said David Watson, SVP of Sales and Marketing for Fresh Farms. 

“Grapes are a great category to promote this time of year as we have ample volumes and excellent quality,” he continued. “Retailers can really boost their store traffic by keeping displays full of all three colors and of course offering the candy varieties when available to extend the category and delight the customers with flavors they may have not tried before.” 

“A couple of things we can recommend to retailers to maximize sales is to promote,” said Aron Gularte, a Sales Representative for Fresh Farms. “Retailers can highlight the visual appeal to customers by displaying all three colors and allowing plenty of shelf space. It’s no secret that grapes are among the top grossing dollar volume for produce, so with proper merchandising magic, September can be a top sales month. Because of unusual challenging weather events, we expect this to change by the first of October, so now is the time to advertise.”