The first fruits of a 15-year table grape breeding programme managed by US company Giumarra have arrived in Europe, with those involved in their research predicting that new varieties emerging from the project could rival established products such as Flame, Thompson and Crimson.
Among the first to benefit is UK fresh produce supplier Mack Multiples, which this week took delivery of the programmes' first commercially available volumes of white table grapes.
One of California's largest and leading producers of table grapes and well known for its GrapeKing brand, Giumarra announced today that the project's extensive research into the development of new grape varieties will be made available to growers around the world.
'This breeding programme holds exciting, genuine opportunities for early, mid- and late-season varieties with efficiency of production, colour, seedlessness and flavour all strict selection criteria,' said a spokesperson for Mack. 'The new varieties are certain rivals to staple varieties such as Flame, Thompson and Crimson.'
The breeder behind the research programme, Shachar Karniel, was responsible for developing the Early Sweet variety, which is now a key variety in many table grape production and supply programmes worldwide.
Through the Karniel family's distribution business Grapa Company, headed up by Rafi Karniel, growers around the world will be able to plant and commercialise the new varieties.
In the UK, Mack Multiples has been appointed as the preferred partner of Giumarra and will operate as an advisory and marketing link between growers and retailers. The company has been involved in the programme for many years now, helping advise on supply gaps and on the specific needs of the UK market.
Growers around the world are now planting the new varieties. However, unlike most other breeding programmes, growers wishing to plant these varieties are not tied to a marketing agreement, merely to a standard licensing agreement with Grapa Company as the worldwide distributor and Master-Licensee of the Giumarra ARRA varieties.
According to those involved in the project, the first crop, known as ‘ARRA15’, suggests that claims about uncovering a new rival to Thompson are no exaggeration.
Dan Crooks, commercial director of Mack Grapes, commented: 'We’ve had a really interesting time working with Shachar over the last five years, bringing our UK market insights and challenges to the Giumarra programme. Our grower partners around the world have benefited from being in prime position not just to plant the newly available varieties but to know that they’re planting quality grapes that fulfil a real market need.
He added: 'This is not just innovation for innovation’s sake. It’s strategic investment from an industry specialist and we’re very proud of our ongoing association with the programme and its partners.”
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