Mid-February 2012 marked a new milestone in the expansion of the production of red seedless grapes from South Africa. A new variety, Sweet Celebration, which will in time be produced in sufficient volumes around the world to be supplied year-round, was packed in the country for the first time. The first Sweet Celebration grapes are destined for UK retailer Sainsbury’s, where they will arrive on the shelf in early March.
The cultivar was developed by American breeder David Cain and will be marketed under the umbrella of his company, International Fruit Genetics (IFG). This means that the marketing will be restricted to licensed exporters and that planted areas will also be limited.
In South Africa the export licensing is controlled through IFG RSA, with EXSA, Colorsfruit and Capespan each holding 30 per cent of the shares. Paarl grower-exporter Eddie Redelinghuys has the remaining 10 per cent.
The arrival of Sweet Celebration is important for the country because it will fill a gap between its other red seedless varieties, Ralli Seedless and Crimson Seedless, and should boost the category significantly.
For EXSA the packing of the first Sweet Celebration at Leon Viljoen’s offered the opportunity not only to show off a new grape cultivar, but also to demonstrate the company’s role as a leader in the search for and evaluation of new varieties. Under the watchful eye of De Witt Kamfer, an evaluation panel including Sainsbury’s product technologist Sarah Blanford and leading growers, tasted a few varieties that may well point the way to the future.
According to its breeder, Sweet Celebration is a cherry-red seedless grape with large crispy berries which are enhanced by floral and perfume aromas reminiscent of a Cabernet Franc. Most of the cultivars on the table did not have names yet, but the three that stood out were Sweet Celebration, followed by a pink blushed seedless known only as 191 and a black seedless, 177, which is expected to do well in early production areas.
Blanford says the retailer has seen only a few samples of Sweet Celebration from the US and is looking forward to offering the variety to British consumers. “The South African product looks very good and will certainly enhance our offer during the middle of the South African season.”
De Witt Kamfer says Sweet Celebration colours naturally and is also resistant to rain, which will be welcomed by Hex River growers. “There will be minimum requirements for sugar levels which will be fixed at 20 Brix,” he advises.
While only 4ha have been planted in South Africa so far, the variety has already widely been planted in the US and Brazil, with plantings expected to follow in Peru and Chile. Eventually the South African plantings will be limited to about 500ha, which will mean that in the years to come around 2.5m cartons of Sweet Celebration will be available from the country.
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