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California awaits the ARRA guests

This is the week we’ve been waiting for – the Early ARRA Field Day is on! The Grapa team has gathered at the ARRA breeding site in Bakersfield, California, and is busy preparing to welcome the ARRA guests from around the world.

Below is a sneak peek of what awaits our guests, be sure there’s still lots to come!

Shachar Karniel, the ARRA breeder, reports that they have prepared new blocks for the evaluation of new varieties. The blocks planted last year are just bearing fruitful yields of different colored varieties. 

We eagerly look forward to meeting ARRA growers and partners from all around the globe. We will provide them with tailor-made tours, present the Early ARRA selection up close, offer a tasting of their exceptional flavor, and allow them to discover what makes these varieties so special.

California awaits the ARRA guests

This is the week we’ve been waiting for – the Early ARRA Field Day is on! The Grapa team has gathered at the ARRA breeding site in Bakersfield, California, and is busy preparing to welcome the ARRA guests from around the world.

Below is a sneak peek of what awaits our guests, be sure there’s still lots to come!

Shachar Karniel, the ARRA breeder, reports that they have prepared new blocks for the evaluation of new varieties. The blocks planted last year are just bearing fruitful yields of different colored varieties. 

We eagerly look forward to meeting ARRA growers and partners from all around the globe. We will provide them with tailor-made tours, present the Early ARRA selection up close, offer a tasting of their exceptional flavor, and allow them to discover what makes these varieties so special.

Successful Day at the Vineyards

We had the pleasure of hosting the Israeli ARRA growers at the annual local field day, where they had the exclusive opportunity to see various ARRA varieties grown in the country. The Field Day was held in the vineyards in the Lachish region in Southern Israel, and was directed by Grapa’s R&D director, Uzi Yaron.

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Uzi led the visitors to see ready-for-harvest yield, including the commercial ARRA Sugar Drop™ and ARRA Honey Pop™. The tour continued to the test block where growers could experience the early ARRA Fire Kiss™, as well as the later varieties such as ARRA Fire Crunch™, ARRA Cherry Crush™. The day was topped off with a glance at future ARRA varieties still under evaluation.

ARRA Fire Kiss
ARRA Fire Kiss
ARRA Sugar Drop
ARRA Sugar Drop
Beautiful Early ARRA selection
Beautiful Early ARRA selection
Grapa's IP department - with an ARRA Fire Kiss smile
Grapa's IP department - with an ARRA Fire Kiss smile
ARRA Fire Kiss
ARRA Fire Kiss

Positive impressions all around, the visitors were especially enthusiastic about the ARRA varieties’ short cycle and low labor requirements. It was great seeing the ARRA family come together and share some ARRA excitement.

The Grapa Team
The Grapa Team

ARRA at the Fruitnet Grape Congress

With the early grape season already underway in Italy, we had the privilege of participating in the Fruitnet Grape Congress, held in Rutigliano, Puglia, Italy.

Puglia has been a commercial center for table grapes for decades and is now becoming a hub of renewal and innovation for new varieties and growing practices. This transformation is helping to strengthen Italy’s position as a global force in table grapes

Nomi Karniel-Padan, Commercial Director at Grapa Varieties was representing the ARRA brand at the congress, alongside the AVI team and Andre Vermaak, Global Tech Support Advisor for Grapa.

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As one of the keynote speakers, Nomi delivered an engaging presentation on the new winners in varietals in a disrupted world and how ARRA genetics provides solutions for these challenges.

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At the ARRA stand, the team proudly presented a selection of ARRA varieties exported from Egypt and ARRA Sugar Drop™ from Italy. As clearly shown in the pictures, the grapes arrived showing great quality, demonstrating their travel durability. The attendees showed great excitement from both established varieties such as ARRA Passion Fire™ and new varieties such as ARRA Fire Kiss™.

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On the second day of the seminar, the attendees visited the ARRA Sugar Drop plantation of OP Guliano at Vallesana Farm, where they tasted this excellent variety straight from the vines. Marco Tempesta and Maurizio Simone, the ARRA agronomists of AVI, the exclusive territorial representative for the ARRA™ varieties and Early Sweet™ in Europe, shared their experience with growing the ARRA Sugar Drop, which is considered the leading planted ARRA variety in Italy.

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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.