Sunview Marketing International is enthusiastic about California table grapes

This year is shaping up to be a good one for California table grapes according to Sunview Marketing International. Sunview, headquartered in Delano, CA, has been growing premium quality table grapes in the central valley for more than 70 years.

“In our expert opinion, this year’s grape season outlook is looking very strong — we are excited about supplying our fresh grapes to our retail partners and consumers worldwide,” said Mitch Wetzel, vice president of sales and Marketing.

Sunview will kick off its California Central Valley grape program with Flame, Sugraone, and Summer Royal varieties. By the end of July, the company begins shipping its exclusive brands — Sparkle, Rosa, Stella Bella, and its second season of Crown — a high-flavor green seedless grape, that Sunview said had incredible success last season.

Sunview’s success within the grape industry springs from its commitment to communication and trust with retail partners. “We had excellent meetings with our customers worldwide during the off-season, both in-person and virtually. Our customer confidence is high, and everyone is anxious to get going with the California grape season,” said Wetzel.

Sunview offers promotable volume on both conventional and organic grapes throughout the season and that dependability is noted by retailers. “During our meetings and discussions with customers, Sunview’s consistency and customers’ trust in the Sunview brand were mentioned over and over,” said Wetzel.

Sunview reported that the weather has been favorable for California table grapes. “Mother Nature has been cooperative. The winter weather was dry but relatively typical, so we are looking forward to a great harvest as we move through the year,” said Wetzel.

Sunview’s mid-season grapes feature its proprietary Gem and Sorella Bella, and new this year is its Sweet Bella variety. Building on the fantastic success from last year, the company’s latest star brand, the high flavored exclusive Sweet Carnival will start in early September and runs through mid-December.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

The company has been busy working on new grape brands available in limited quantities this season. Building off the successful California Classic campaign, Sunview will be introducing a fresh California-grown strawberry-flavored grape and a new brand to be unveiled soon.

Sunview said that initial customer feedback has had high praise for these new brands. “Our new strawberry-flavored grape, and soon-to-revealed new brand, will keep the availability mix fresh and exciting all season long,” said Wetzel. The company expects these new grapes to be available with some volumes starting this season and more on the horizon.

“With no outside growers or production involved, our customers can be confident that Sunview Marketing is the single source for grapes out of the Central Valley,” said Wetzel.

While upbeat about the season, Wetzel is forthright about the challenges of growing in 2022. “Every year presents unique challenges and opportunities,” he said. “Water has been and will continue to be an issue in California. This year we anticipate continued labor and cost pressures, but we are confident that Sunview’s family-owned farms’ quality and consistency will once again shine in the marketplace.

Moreover, the team at Sunview Marketing is eager to start the 2022 grape season.

“Summertime and sunshine mean it’s California grape season, and we’re excited for our customers around the globe to be able to enjoy summer fun and delicious summertime grapes,” said Wetzel.

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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