Increasing demand for ARRA Varieties in Australia

Harvest has just started for the ARRA varieties in Emerald, Queensland and will then be followed by other regions as seen below through the beginning of 2024. We are glad to bring you a glimpse of what’s in store and everything that we’ve heard through the grapevine.

Our Priority to Provide Personalized Technical Support

Stephan Nel, the ARRA Varieties Manager in Australia, has been busy visiting the ARRA growers in all regions. Grapa has always made it a priority to provide unique dedicated, personalized technical support and now with Stephan on board, this is exactly what’s happening in Australia.

Weather, Timing and More

Stephan reports that for both Emerald and Sunraysia the crop is slightly lighter than last year, which will hopefully result in even better-quality fruit, leading to much better prices. This season the fertility of most table grape varieties seems to have been affected by the constant rain and overcast days during critical stages of last year’s growing cycle. However, to somewhat balance this out, at the start of this season, there was very good growing weather, much better than in previous years, which has proven ideal for the development.

Specifically, in Sunraysia there was a good start to the season weather-wise with a warm spring resulting in faster development of the bunches. For the last few weeks, there were colder temperatures that slowed things down a bit, making the timing now about 2 weeks earlier than last year and reaching similar timing as in previous seasons.

ARRA Honey Pop and ARRA Sugar Drop: Early Gems in Emerald

Wurlin Pty Ltd 's ARRA Honey Pop ready for the shelves

All growers are keeping a close eye on ARRA Honey Pop, in both Emerald and in Sunraysia, as they are looking for the ultimate very early white seedless.

In Emerald, John Staier at Wurlin Pty Ltd has just started the harvest of ARRA Honey Pop. Word traveled fast, and many came to see the first crop for this variety in Emerald close to harvest. Everyone that visited sounds very impressed with John’s ARRA Honey Pop.

ARRA Sugar Drop is also being harvested at present and these sweet, elongated berries are becoming a local favourite.

Also in Emerald, Romeo’s Best and Perfection Fresh will soon start with the harvesting of their ARRA Sugar Drop.

Stephan recounts: “It’s important to emphasize that growers in Emerald normally struggle with fertility, so it’s great to see the good fertility of especially ARRA Honey Pop and ARRA Sugar Drop in this region”.

Perfection Fresh's ARRA Sugar Drop in Emerald

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Market Talk: High Prices and Export Demand

The prices for the domestic market look very promising, but the retailers made it crystal clear that the brix needs to be at the correct level. We are confident that this can be achieved by harvesting at the right timing.

In addition to the strong and growing local market, Australia mainly exports table grapes to Asian countries with China a most dominant destination for many years. Many additional Asian countries are increasingly sourcing table grapes from Australia, which was apparent when the Grapa team at Asia Fruit Logistica met with importers from Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Philippines, and Hong Kong who visited the ARRA stands and were excited to hear of the availability of ARRA varieties in Australia.

No Struggle with Fertility

ARRA Honey Pop, ARRA Yum!bo and ARRA Mystic Dream are showing very high fertility in Sunraysia. It’s still too early to tell how the fruit will set, but we’ll keep you posted. In some areas, ARRA Sugar Drop is showing very good bunch numbers for an early white variety. Growers are drawn to so many of the ARRA varieties as they are fertile and that is not something they need to struggle with.

The ARRA Buzz and Newbies

There is a real buzz around the new generation of red ARRA varieties and licensees are planting all the vines available for the very new ARRA Fire Crunch as well as orders being made for the other new red variety: ARRA Cherry Crush.

At Alpha Fresh Australia, the Cirillo Family is busy planting additional plots elevating the ARRA program in Australia. It is always invigorating to see new beginning.