This week we are excited to share with you news from Spain and Israel about the harvest of ARRA Sweeties™ grapes (ARRA 15). Moreover, we will take a look at the behind-the-scenes of the Early ARRA Varieties Virtual Field Day that took place in July.
HaciendasBio, Spain’s leading organic fruit and vegetable producer is in full harvest with organic ARRA 15. The company has more than 100 hectares cultivated with different varieties of ARRA grapes, distributed across 5 farms in Almería, Seville and Badajoz. From this plantation, there are 35 hectares planted of ARRA 15.
The photos clearly exhibit the beautiful results of the organically grown ARRA 15. There is no doubt that the technical team of Haciendasbio has learned the growing guidelines in-depth and adapted it to the available products permissible for organic growth.
Alberto Samperio, R&D Manager at HaciendasBio shared with us: «The harvest will start around the 12th of August in our Badajoz farm and we will carry on until September. The caliber of the organic ARRA 15 stands at 20-22 mm and we estimate a production of 25,000 Kg per hectare».
Alberto continues: «In our Falamosa farm the harvest will start roughly a week later. The vines are in their second year of organic production and we estimate 20,000 Kg per hectare». In addition to the ARRA Sweeties™ grapes, HaciendasBio is also growing a large array of other ARRA varieties such as ARRA Passion Fire™, ARRA Sugar Drop™, ARRA Passion Glow™ of course, all organically.
In our previous newsletter, we reported on the great crop of ARRA 30 at Raimsa S.A.T and this week we can all see the beautiful freshly harvested ARRA 15 from their plantation located in the center of the Valle Del Vinalopó between the mountains and the sea. This location is excellent for cultivating grapes due to its mild climate throughout the year that compliments the rich land. The harvest has begun and this first-year production of ARRA 15 (ARRA Sweeties) looks outstanding.
ARRA Passion Fire™ (ARRA 29)
After a great opening of the Israeli season with the early ARRA Varieties, ARRA Sweeties has now taken the stage. In Israel, Shiko Domovitz CEO of Tali Grapes, reports: «During this time of the year, the table grape market experiences a shortage in supply between the early and the mid-season varieties. Thankfully, the harvest of ARRA Sweeties grapes began last week, arriving at an excellent timing to the market, still during the summer holidays and just before the Jewish New Year. The ARRA Sweeties variety with its large, sweet and crunchy berries is exactly what the Israeli market is looking for. The grapes are sold directly to the premium markets in big cities in the country and we only wish we could have more!».
Watch this fresh from the field ARRA 15 (ARRA Sweeties™)
produced by Yoav Eyal
Saar Buki, Israel
Saar Buki, is another satisfied ARRA producer. In his farm located in Moshav Arugoth, South Israel, the ARRA Sweeties harvest began this week and from the pictures received, we can see the great results he achieved. Following the guidelines provided by Grapa’s technical team is certainly one of the main keys to obtaining the best out of this variety. When the sugar acid is balanced, the eating quality of ARRA 15 is truly at its best.
Two weeks ago, Nomi Karniel Padan, Grapa Commercial Director managed to travel to England to visit major supermarkets chains and service providers in order to introduce the newest ARRA selections as well as the already commercial ARRA Varieties. The different supermarkets’ team members were able to taste the varieties that were shipped to the UK from California especially for them, while Nomi explained each and every selection’s characteristic. The feedback was great and we look forward to seeing the new selections along with the commercial varieties on the supermarket’s shelves across the UK in the near future.
Among the promising newest released selections, there are some that especially stood out and received great feedback. ARRA Honey Pop™ (ARRA 33), is a very early white seedless variety, ripening at the same time as Early Sweet and captured most of the attention due to its excellent taste, good berry size, crunchy texture, earliness and very low labor input.
Of the ARRA early red new selections, the beautiful ARRA 79B-44+1 received the most compliments thanks to a unique full color, bunch shape, and, of course, incomparable flavor and crispness.
Early ARRA Virtual Field Days 2021
Although it was the second year of the ARRA virtual tours, it felt, once again, very strange not to have the opportunity to meet face to face and to share the experience of seeing and tasting the varieties together in the field as we used to do in the ‘good old days’ before Covid-19. Nevertheless, we made the best out of the situation and producers, traders, marketers, and friends were able to join us from all over the world and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome!
The webinars were divided into different sessions according to the attendees’ language: English, Spanish and Portuguese. All the videos showcased during the webinars were recorded in Bakersfield, California directly from the heart of the ARRA Breeding site. Moreover, this year, we were lucky enough to have part of the Brazilian and Chilean teams join us in California in order to evaluate the new promising varieties as well as to participate during the shooting of the videos.
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