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About 55 stone fruit growers and marketers from across the U.S. and throughout the world participated in the Sun World International Stone Fruit Expo held in Bakersfield, CA June 3-5. The Expo, chaired by Sun World's David Marguleas, included industry representatives from Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, Italy and the U.S. “It was a win-win experience for everyone”, remarked Marguleas, “to have such a diverse group sharing experiences and perspectives”.

Sun World President Tim Shaheen kicked-off the meetings with a brief overview of Sun World operations and noted the company's commitment to the research and development program and licensing efforts. Shaheen spoke of the importance of flavor in today’s market. “…but nearest and dearest to us is a profitable return for licensed growers”, he noted.

 During the meetings, Terry Bacon, Sun World Stone Fruit Breeder, presented detailed descriptions of Sun World plum, peach, nectarine, and apricot varieties.  Each cultivar was covered separately and the talks were followed by panel discussions involving the audience.  Bob Wickson, Regional Licensing Manager, Sun World Australasia chaired the plum panel discussion, Johan Jooste, V.P. and General Manager, Sun World South Africa chaired the panel discussions for peaches and nectarines, and Andrew Mansour, International Licensing Manager, chaired the apricot panel discussion. Bacon also conducted a Fruit Show of early-season varieties that included HONEYCOT^® brand apricot varieties, AMBER CREST^® brand peach varieties, as well as early varieties of the BLACK DIAMOND^® and BLACK GIANT^® series.

Attendees were able to visit Sun World R&D and commercial ranches to view plantings of new and upcoming stone fruit varieties.  Terry Bacon and Kevin Andrew, Sr. V.P. of Production, were on the tours to discuss variety performance and management.  Also in attendance was Kevin Day, University of California Tree Fruit Specialist, offering invaluable insight into pruning and training practices during the tours.  Day also gave a presentation during the meetings entitled International Trends in Tree Training and Management.

On the marketing end, Mike Aiton, Sr. V.P. of Sales and Marketing, gave a talk entitled Supermarket sales in an era of retail consolidation and supplier fragmentation.  Aiton described the success Sun World has had marketing branded proprietary varieties such as the SUPERIOR SEEDLESS^® and MIDNIGHT BEAUTY^® table grapes and the BLACK DIAMOND brand plum varieties. Aiton also described a marketing study done on BLACK DIAMOND plums remarking that,  “Even when BLACK DIAMOND plums sold at a 20% higher retail price, stores sold 16.6% more volume compared to other black plums.”

The meetings ended with Marguleas talking about licensing strategies and the Company's long-term plans, and answering questions about managed plantings of Sun World varieties throughout the world.

Sun World Seasonal Shots offers a nearly weekly look at Sun World stone fruit and table grape varieties as they come into production.  Be sure to check it often for new updates.

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