BAKERSFIELD, CA - Table grapes are praised for their flavor and delightful crunch all year long, and ARRA Cherry Crush and Fire Crunch are two varieties quickly building a massive fan base among consumers. I recently touched base with Giumarra Vineyards’ Mimi Corsaro to discuss a few of the advantages packed by these highly coveted table grapes.
“The ARRA Cherry Crush is elongated and crunchy and has a beautiful deep ruby color and a rich, distinctive flavor reminiscent of ripe Bing cherries,” shares Mimi, Vice President of Marketing and Director of Export Sales. “It has a naturally waxy skin that helps it hold up well in more extreme weather conditions and through the shipping and cold storage process. The ARRA Fire Crunch is one of the crunchiest grapes available on the market today, with a bright pink/red skin and a sweet and juicy interior.”
Similar to Cherry Crush, the Fire Crunch variety has also held up well through this year’s extreme climatic conditions.
“The Fire Crunch also made it through this very challenging season and seems to be rain-tolerant,” Mimi adds. “Both varieties are very prolific and have produced better-than-expected results in terms of yield and quality for a second-year crop.”
Weather resistance and taste are only two of the enticing features of these table grape varieties; they also draw consumers in with their premium appearance.
“The Cherry Crush packaging is bright, fun, and really catches the consumer’s eye. Then they see the uniformly large, plump berries, and it reinforces how nice the grapes are,” Mimi notes. “When you have beautiful fruit, it really sells itself directly from the shelf. Both of these grapes will have continuous growth in the marketplace—once people try them, they definitely will want to purchase them again.”
Cherry Crush and Fire Crunch also have a host of features that directly benefit the buy-side.
“These new ARRA varieties are easy to grow, store well, ship well, and don’t have issues that plague some other older varieties, such as seed trace, astringency, or lack of firmness,” Mimi tells me. “It is wonderful to be able to offer really amazing reds to follow our early- to mid-season green standouts—ARRA Sugar Drop and ARRA Honey Pop. The ARRA Hula Pop, which is a green seedless with a luscious tropical taste, also did very well at select retailers this season and looks to become a niche favorite.”
A number of new varieties have been released from the ARRA breeding program in the past year. As Mimi shares, these developments look promising for production in California and in growing regions around the world, including some interesting high-flavor varieties.
“There is definitely a buzz amongst the grower community for these new red selections, which will ultimately be available from our grower partners year-round,” Mimi concludes.
Stay updated on the growth of this powerful program with reports from ANUK.
