Moroccan ARRA Harvest

The Moroccan harvest of the ARRA varieties is currently at its peak, having just completed the harvest of the ARRA Sugar Drop™ variety. Meanwhile, the harvest of the ARRA Passion Fire™ is underway, with growers expressing their satisfaction with both yield and the overall season.

This year, Moroccan growers of the ARRA varieties report that warm and dry growing conditions, which are ideal for the optimal performance of ARRA Passion Fire. Fatiha Charrat, Deputy Managing Director for the Delassus group mentions that careful management is required to prevent overcropping and maintain consistent quality. The Delassus group started harvesting and exporting their ARRA Passion Fire grapes in week 22, taking advantage of the earliness of this red variety. 

Fatiha says: “We have no issue with the color, as usual, is a vibrant red color. Its size is quite consistent and tends to be medium. Concerning the taste, its flavor is sweet and depends on how early we decide to harvest. The skin is relatively thin, which makes them pleasant to eat without being too tough.”

We are delighted to share that the Moroccan ARRA Passion Fire was mostly well-received by consumers, especially this year as there is a lack of red grapes. The market has admired the variety for its attractive appearance, great taste, and good texture.

This is the 4th year that Elite Harvest Maroc is exporting various ARRA varieties. As seen in these recent pictures, Faïza Tak-Tak , the General Manager reports about high-quality grapes, however, Faiza mentions that their grapes reached the markets simultaneously with grapes from Egypt and Sicily, which made it more competitive.

Elana Shabaily, Director of Les Vergers du Soleil summarizes their season, saying: “The ARRA Passion Fire coloration is excellent, and we kicked off hoping for a receptive market. ARRA Sugar Drop is arriving with ARRA Passion Fire. We are expecting similar harvesting periods for the 2 varieties, which will be finished by the end of June.”

Delightful Egyptian Sweets

As one of the earliest growing regions for table grapes, Egypt is mainly growing early varieties, serving its optimal market window for Europe and the UK. 

This week, we spotted varieties by the ARRA™ and Early Sweet™ brands sold in the esteemed Marks & Spencer in London. We are expecting that the ARRA Fire Kiss™ will complete this trio and replace Flame. The ARRA Fire Kiss, with natural full red colour berries, has proven to be very fertile and grower-friendly, as well as bearing good post-harvest and shipping qualities.

First hand Egyptian ARRA Experience

Before the beginning of the harvest, we met several Egyptian farm managers in different ARRA vineyards to learn about their ARRA growing experiences, preferences for varieties, insights and conclusions.

We recommend watching these short videos below, learning about their achieved optimal market window, high-yield performance, and minimized labor required for the ARRA cultivation. 

Let's harvest some ARRA Sweeties™

Egyptian growers have wisely decided to also invest in growing later ripening varieties that will prolong their harvest capacity. This renowned mid-season sweet is currently at harvest and growers report about great results.

It's a ARRA Sugar Drop™ Harvest

In Israel, the early ARRA harvest continues. Uzi Yaron, Grapa’s R&D Director has been an ARRA grower himself, growing an array of ARRA varieties is his farm, located in Lachish, of the Northern Negev in Southern Israel. 

Uzi proudly reports of very good results of the ARRA Sugar Drop™ in his farm, grown with a close adherence to the Grapa growing protocol, that he is in charge of. The ARRA Sugar Drop in Uzi’s farm is grown in a greenhouse, whereas another ARRA grower Yariv Azoulay, of Yuval Gidoolim, is growing it in an open vineyard. Both farms yielded high-quality grapes, as seen in the pictures and videos below.

Bananot Ha Hof is growing some of the new-generation very early ARRA varieties among them ARRA Fire Kiss™ and ARRA Honey Pop™. The satisfaction with the varieties’ performance is well-noted, as clearly shown in the videos.

Don’t miss out on these other newsletters:

ARRA Cherry Crush™

The Crush Everyone’s talking about!

Tony Calvillo, Vice President of International Business Development, Dayka & Hackett LLC, shared: “Today, we visited the ARRA Cherry Crush—a grape variety that exceeds the expectations of growers, consumers, and retailers alike. We are thrilled to witness its remarkable potential. Boasting an alluring cherry colour, impressive size, abundant production, and a perfect balance of taste and crunch, ARRA Cherry Crush creates a mutually beneficial scenario for discerning producers, consumers, and retailers.”

ARRA Fire Crunch™

Igniting the senses

Just in time for the festive season, the inaugural batch of ARRA Fire Crunch™ made its way from Peru to the USA. Karl Conrads, founder, CEO of Grapasa accompanied the first year vines from budbreak all the way to Walmart facilities in Los Angeles.

Don’t miss the footage, showing this landmark arrival, now the sky’s the limit.

ARRA Passion Fire™

Sharing the passion – Right now in Southern Africa:

“It’s a great, beautiful grape, we are having a great time packing it.” shares Gabriel Viljoen of G.P. Viljoen Farming

We’ve heard other growers excited about this year’s performance.

“The ARRA Passion Fire was probably the most beautiful red grapes around on our farms.”

ARRA Fire Kiss™

Start the season with a Kiss

This year, attendees got a firsthand look at ARRA Fire Kiss™ in Egypt. What stood out was how distinctly different it was from the Flame, leaving no doubt that it is the perfect Flame replacement.