Investment group Black Diamond purchased California-based Sun World International Inc for $127.75 million at auction in January 2005, bringing to an end a sale process that had run for two years. The first year under Black Diamond Capital Management’s ownership has been anything but a period of consolidation.
“It is not the first time that we have experienced change and we have learnt to adapt continually as a company. We are very resilient and we really do thrive on it,” says Marguleas. “We have new ownership, a new ceo and a renewed commitment to investment in production of our proprietary varieties in California.”
Sun World’s is a two-pronged strategy. Developing commercial varieties on its own properties in California has always, says Marguleas, been “more of a capital issue for us”, while the company is also working to place its new cultivars - both grape and stonefruit - with licensed growers throughout the world, and fill the remaining gaps in the grape supply calendar.
“We have a managed production system, and by definition that allows us to better match supply with demand. The industry as a whole can deal with the common varieties, but we have given ourselves a far better chance of avoiding the perils of rampant overproduction and the lack of any specific gaps, or peaks and troughs, in the market,” Marguleas says.
“April, May and October have been the windows of opportunity, but the quantities available are closing them up. The industry has filled in most of the gaps, and now it is time to go back to basics. That puts an even greater burden on breeders like ourselves to provide new varieties with better flavour and overall quality, without worrying so much about the timing.”
Timeliness is, of course, still of huge relevance though. “We do have some spectacular early and late varieties,” he says, “but there is a greater emphasis on enhancing the eating experience of seedless grapes.”
In February, the European Community granted Sun World International a trademark registration for its Superior Seedless® brand name, giving the breeder and its licensed distributors the exclusive right to use the trademark on fruit marketed in and to all European Community countries. Sun World owns Superior Seedless trademark registrations in the US and 24 other countries. It uses the Superior Seedless brand to promote the sugraone grape, an early-ripening white seedless variety. It also licenses producers and marketers to use the trademark on fruit produced in Spain, Italy, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Africa, Namibia, Australia, Senegal and the US.
The company has also added to its number of international licensed grape distributors, which now stands at 16 - all in the southern hemisphere. “We expect to appoint around half a dozen more licensees by the end of 2006,” says Marguleas. “These will include the first licensed exporters in the northern hemisphere, and without a doubt, Europe is the key area for us to get some closure on. Italy, for instance, is a very important growing region for us, and we have a number of varieties that would work very well for the Italian industry as it continues to make the switch from seeded to seedless production. Greece and Israel are also important areas for us as we widen our network.”
In addition to the sugraone grape and Superior Seedless trademark, Sun World owns more than 600 US and international trademarks and patents, many in the grape market segment. A raft of new varieties and their accompanying trademarks are bursting to make the breakthrough in Europe in the next few seasons.
“We should have our first commercial crop of sugrathirteen (Midnight Beauty®) branded grape out of South Africa arriving in Europe in early January. This is the first year that the large-berried sugrathirteen, which ripens two weeks prior to Thompson Seedless, has been grown extensively in Australia, South Africa and Chile and we are working to complete our supply calendar with growers in just about every major grape growing country worldwide.” Midnight Beauty is licensed to Capespan, The Grape Company and Dole SA for distribution and marketing out of South Africa, and volumes will also be available from Chile next year, through Unifrutti, Dole Chile and Frutera Santa Monica. “How much is distributed depends on production conditions and the licensed marketers, but there should definitely be enough volume to take care of some decent retail promotional volumes,” Marguleas says.
The Thompson Seedless picking point is used as a reliable benchmark to denote the window of each grape in the Sun World stable. Sugrasixteen (Sable Seedless®), a new aromatic, black seedless, ripens around two weeks after the Thompson Seedless harvest starts and, after 10 years of extensive trials, it is ready for active service on the retail front line. Sugraeighteen (Sophia Seedless®), a sweet grape with a subtle Muscat flavour is likely to be a favourite with Italia fans, and comes in two weeks after Thompson. It is currently under trial in Europe. And sugratwelve (Coachella Seedless®), an early-ripening white precedes Thompson by at least a fortnight. The variety is characterised by unusually large, cylindrical berries.
“We are still working on varieties that hit the shoulders of the season,” says Marguleas. “And we have a number of new selections that ripen even earlier than sugraone and sugrathirteen, as well as a few outstanding late-season contenders.” One white seedless variety, as yet un-named, harvests a whopping four months after Thompson Seedless in California, and would create for itself an entirely new slot in the market if successful.
Sun World is not alone of course in introducing new varieties into the European market, and Marguleas believes the market, while overcrowded at times, is always in need of a spark. Last year was difficult in the southern hemisphere and, he says that it is evident that producers of Thompson, Flame and Crimson must a) respond to the prevalent market dynamics and b) attempt to differentiate themselves as the supply pot expands and gaps in the calendar are filled.
“We have a unique level of technological expertise and are able to use our breeding programme as a competitive tool when we meet retailers around the world. Our grower base [on 16,000 hectares] in California is obviously a major beneficiary, but export opportunities are limited by production in Spain and Italy. However, increasingly our 16 licensed distributors will see the real benefits too.” âñ
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