This week we travel to Ecuador where the success of this second year of production of ARRA Sweeties™ (ARRA 15) continues as well as to Brazil, where the excitement about the new varieties is growing bigger and bigger. Moreover, the Grapa team is happy to report the fruitful 3 days spent at the Fruit Attraction in Madrid.
The season in Ecuador has begun and Agrindzap, has produced a very sufficient crop of ARRA Sweeties. In their second year of production, the vines are strong and have great fertility. Agrindzap Director, Juan Eduardo Burnea relates: “This is our second harvest of ARRA 15. We are fine-tuning the management of the vineyard considering in our area the phenology of the plant is very fast, we must act quickly when it comes to field management.”
Finobrasa Sunvalley farm was the first company to produce ARRA 34 (ARRA Yum!bo™) in a semi-commercial area. ARRA 34 is a white mid-season variety, truly one of a kind due to its berry shape and size, its fresh eating quality, shiny color, and ease of growing.
The Finobrasa team has improved their practice lately by adapting the protocol according to their area and has achieved great results. The Grapa Brazilian team, together with the producers, are constantly evaluating the newest ARRA selections added to the ARRA Program in Brazil as well as investing time and effort by constantly improving the growing protocol in order to find the varieties that will be a success.
New ARRA selections are currently under evaluation in Coopexvale test block. The new ARRA varieties that can sustain the tropical Brazilian weather and show potential in producing two cycles are the ones that will be selected and taken to a more advanced evaluation stage.
The Grapa Brazil Team organized a Field Day that will take on the 11-13 of November, in order to show the most promising selections to the Brazilian producers. Amanda Rodrigues, ARRA Agronomist, says: “The harvest of this test block will showcase the latest most promising selections that we are evaluating, helping us to assess the production potential of each one along with the development of the protocols”.
ARRA Mystic Dream (ARRA 32) is a charming late black variety that stands out for its great quality, currently being harvested in Italy and Greece. For us, there was no better time to hold a webinar in order to present to traders and retailers the appealing qualities and characteristics of this variety as well as offer a sneak peek into this season’s production in Italy and Greece. Shachar Karniel, ARRA Varieties Breeder and Nomi Karniel-Padan, Grapa Commercial Director, welcomed two special guests to attend as speakers during the successful webinar: Mark Tweddle, CEO & Joint MD at Jupiter Group and Carlo Lingua, CEO at AVI s.r.l.
Mark and Carlo shared their experience of marketing and growing ARRA Mystic Dream with the attendees.
ARRA 32 from Greece and Italy presents excellent quality, large berries nice uniform color and is crispier than ever.
Mark Tweedle during the webinar highlighted: “Recently consumers are moving more and more towards red and black varieties and we believe that the great characteristics of ARRA Mystic Dream will secure this variety a place of honor on the supermarket’s shelves.”
Nomi Karniel Padan, Grapa Commercial Director, is very pleased about the 3 days spent at Fruit Attraction Madrid and reports just after the exhibition: “We were closely following the developments in connection to the exhibition, skeptical that it would have been a live event. We were so happy when it became clear that Fruit Attraction would be “in-person”.
Nomi continues: “It was a great pleasure to meet people that we could only see via Zoom as well as to create new connections since the chances are really low in the virtual world. It was also very encouraging to see participants arriving from South Africa, South America, North Africa and Gulf countries. Great to be connected again!”.
Read the article published last week on FRUITNET:
Grapa prepared for extremes:
The threat of climate change looms large for growers, but Grapa Varieties believes the genetic profile of its grape varieties offers greater resistance in a future of extreme conditions.
Climate change stands as the greatest challenge facing table grape growers today, according to Shachar Karniel, breeder of the Arra varieties and the fourth generation in a family of grape producers dating back to 1882. “2021 is the first year that we have seen clear signs of climate change in three major grape-producing countries at the same time,” he says
Read more…
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