This week we are taking you to Brazil where the success of ARRA Sweeties™ (ARRA 15) continues. The future looks great as new ARRA selections are now confirming their suitability in the Petrolina area. Read below what the growers have to say about this start of the season.
Augusto Prado, ARRA Program Technical Manager and producer, in Brazil reports about the current season: “This year, we foresee that results of the ARRA Varieties will be excellent. Luckily, the weather this year was on our side, but mainly what we are seeing in the field is the great work of the farm’s technical teams, leading to excellent fruit quality. We are working to achieve the perfect ARRA Sweeties™ therefore, our focus is to reach the optimal brix/acidity balance.”
Fabio Ferreira, Production Director at FruttiHall Farm (Coopexvale) shares: “It is a dream coming true to be able to have two full cycles a year and this is thanks to the ARRA Varieties.”
Fabio adds: “ARRA 15 and ARRA 94B-35+4 allow us to be more competitive in the market and enable the viticulture in the São Francisco Valley to thrive, contributing to our personal and social growth.”
Cristhian Diaz, Commercial Manager at Coopexvale explains: “We will have a year of high productivity and I believe that the results of this year’s harvest will be very good. Thanks to the favorable weather conditions, this season ARRA 15 is even crunchier with firmer berries.”
ARRA 15 is definitely a leading variety in the local Brazilian market and Marcio Amorin, Coopexvale Local Market Sales Manager emphasizes: “ARRA Sweeties™ established itself as the most consumed green grape variety in the domestic market. Its striking features have conquered the taste of Brazilian consumers.”
Not only is the Ibatuba (Coopexvale) team pleased with their ARRA 15 crop, but ARRA 94B-35+4, the red mid-season selection, is performing very well. Estácio Cohim, Ibatuba Director, praises this variety and enthusiastically reports: “This variety has a beautiful appearance, a very pleasant taste, and a good sugar-acid balance with at least 20 Brix. ARRA 94B-35+4 has all the characteristics for a great future, and we surely want to increase our planting areas to commercial quantities.”
Patricia Leão, Ibatuba General Manager, is very optimistic about the new ARRA 94B-35+4 and says: “This is an incredible variety. Its flavor stands out from all the other varieties along with the big berry and structured bunch, but the most impressive thing is its fertility!”
The season had an excellent start for Frutos Do Sol as well. Pedro Tinoco, Company’s Director is truly pleased and articulates: “We have a very good production forecast with all our ARRA Varieties for this upcoming harvest with both, productivity and quality.”
Pedro highlights: “The introduction of new varieties all over the world is changing the market, but we are able, together with Grapa’s support, to cultivate varieties that are suitable for our region and that ultimately allow us to remain competitive with other producing countries and therefore increasing new market shares. ARRA 15 continues to be the most appreciated variety in our local market with excellent results but we have to say that we are also happy with the other new successful ARRA selections.”
This season’s crop at Agrivale looks excellent, with 80% to 90% of the ARRA 15 harvested Class 1 . Nami Ando, Production Manager at Agrivale is highly satisfied and says:” What we have is high productivity with excellent quality. Moreover, one great characteristic of the ARRA varieties is the efficiency in transforming the reserve into production.”
Watch Mr. Newton Matzumoto, Technical Director at Coana, explaining the great characteristics of ARRA 15.
Hemerson Alves Rodrigues, Agronomist at Fazenda Special Fruit is satisfied with the season so far:” The vines are healthy, a very important factor in order to obtain an excellent harvest quality. The ARRA varieties have high fertility and with the correct technical work in giving the plant, the right nutritional balance we are able to obtain the most out of the varieties.”
Roberto Carvalho, Local Market Commercial Manager at Special Fruit, is proud of the work done this season and reports: “This 2020/2021 season has been very challenging for the marketing of grapes in the domestic market due to the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. We had to reinvent ourselves, look for new markets, new packaging in order to meet the consumer’s demand changes. The fact that we offer ARRA 15 practically every week of the year, together with the excellent quality produced, guaranteed constant opportunities with all our partners in Brazil.”
Roberto concludes: “ARRA 15 harvested with the right balance between Sugar and Acidity ensures consumer satisfaction, customer loyalty and excellent prospects for continued future sales. I want to congratulate the entire Special Fruit production team for the excellent quality of the ARRA Sweeties they produced.”
Russaika Nascimento, ARRA Varieties Technical Representative in Brazil summarises the start of the season and says: “From the photos and comments of our producers, we can clearly say that the season started really well. There is no doubt that the weather helped, but the great results are definitely thanks to the producers and agronomists who’s commitment and efforts bring the best out of the ARRA Varieties.”
Russaika adds: “A few years ago it was a distant dream to produce twice a year, as well as to have rain-resistant varieties and today this dream has turned into a reality thanks to the ARRA Program. All this would not be possible without our partners, producers and friends who believe and strive for a great future as much as we do. This drives us to constantly improve, seeking innovations by listening to the needs of our growers. Thank you all for your dedication.”
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