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Report
from South Africa |
 Sun
World Cultivar Development
Specialist Guy McGhie
returned from visiting Sun World
plantings in South Africa in
January where he traveled with
Sun World's Johan Jooste and
with Sun World consultant Hovav
Wexler. Below is his report:
Traveling with Johan Jooste,
a great host and guide,
we drove extensively through
some of the most picturesque
growing regions in South Africa.
Hovav Weksler joined us for our
visits to growers in the Hex
River and surrounding areas. We
visited more than 30 growers,
and evaluated up to 80 different
vineyards and orchards.
Table Grapes
Sugrathirteen (MIDNIGHT
BEAUTY®) in the Orange River
District
had set very well: Growers had
experimented with girdling at
bloom and tipping of the
clusters and shoots; however,
due in part to a long cool
spring, berry size was not
optimal. As most of the
vineyards are now large enough
to girdle for size, I am
optimistic that growers will
achieve good set and berry size,
weather permitting. In the Hex River region, growers still experienced
shatter from over vigorous
growth, though to a lesser
degree than last year. It was
heartening to see that some
growers were able to achieve an
excellent crop; I believe that
growers have the potential to
produce yields and quality that
will soon surpass what is
achieved at Sun World.
 Anthony
Hill in the Hex River region
worked his magic with
Sugrasixteen (SABLE SEEDLESS®)
and was able to acquire good
size, as
shown in the photograph on the
left. Yet again, Sugratwelve
(COACHELLA SEEDLESS®) was
harvested 4-10 days ahead of
Sugraone (SUPERIOR SEEDLESS®):
With some new GA trials we
should be able to get the
extended berry as experienced in
Coachella, CA.
Stone Fruit
Pictures below are of
Suapriseven (HONEYCOT brand)
from 36 days in storage: It was
well received in the market and
has great possibilities. The
bottom photo illustrates
Suplumeleven (BLACK DIAMOND
brand) picked in the P.A.Hamlet
area. It achieved
excellent size, and had colored
very well by the time it reached
the UK market.
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Suapriseven after 36
days storage |
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Suplumeleven about ready
for harvest |
Already out of
quarantine in South Aftica
are some late white seedless grape
varieties that we are running
trials on this year and very
exciting aromatic plums, both
promise to do well.
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SUPERIOR
SEEDLESS®
Trademark
Registration
Granted in Europe
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 The European community has granted Sun World a
trademark registration for its SUPERIOR SEEDLESS® brand name.
The SUPERIOR SEEDLESS® trademark was registered on December 6,
2004 and gives Sun World and its licensees the exclusive right
to use the trademark on fruit marketed in and to all European
Community countries.
According to Sun World Senior Vice President David Marguleas, “the Sugraone variety and
SUPERIOR SEEDLESS brand holds particular value in the important
seedless grapes consuming markets of the United Kingdom, Germany
and Scandinavia, where fruit is sold year-round from within and
outside of Europe.”
Sun World owns SUPERIOR SEEDLESS trademark registrations in the
United States and 24 other countries.
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Black Diamond Capital
Management, LLC
Completes Purchase of
Sun World International,
Inc. |
Black Diamond Capital Management,
LLC., a leading privately-held alternative asset management
firm with approximately $6 billion under management, announced
that Sun World International, LLC, a limited liability company 100
percent-owned by entities managed by Black Diamond, has acquired
substantially all of the assets of Sun World International, Inc.
Going forward, the company will do business under the name of Sun World
International, LLC.
"We are excited about Sun World's
long-term value potential as a leading agricultural producer and
are committed to enhancing its growth and profitability," stated
Christopher Kipley, a Partner at Black Diamond. "We intend to build upon Sun World's core
strengths and its excellent organization so that the company will be
able to continue to serve the needs of its customers."
The acquisition is also good news
for Sun World’s vendors and suppliers as the company will now have a
stronger balance sheet and significant cash resources. Mr.
Kipley added, "We believe Sun World has a promising future and look forward
to working with them to develop Sun World to its fullest potential.”
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New
Sun World Cultivar
Information on
sunworldfruit.com |
If you haven’t
checked the
Products and Services
area of
sunworldfruit.com
lately, look
and see what’s new for
2005. This section is
password protected and
only for grower-marketer
members of the Sun World
Fruit Alliance, so if you
have forgotten your user
name or password,
email us with your
name and we will send a
reminder.
Cultivar Information in Products and Services has been
updated for 2005 with new ripening tables and cultivar information, as
well as several new cultivars added to the Sun World lineup. There are
now handy 'printer-friendly' pdf versions of all the cultivar
information, as well as a pdf version of the entire Sun World Cultivars
Catalogue. Sun World's Terry Bacon commented on the website changes,
"People like to print a catalogue each year and having it in pdf format,
they get the catalogue that is exactly as it should appear. With a
web page format, you may have a picture or a sentence cut-off in the
middle and it is confusing. Licensees have asked how they can print
cultivar information of just the BLACK DIAMOND® plum
series or the BLACK GIANT® series, so we added
that in pdf format as well. And growers have requested a more detailed
description of the plum and apricot tree growth habits, so we have added
that to the information tables. "
New Table Grapes:
Sugrathirtytwo (breeder number 94014-141-398) is a new red
grape for the early season that has been productive, large, and develops
red color more uniformly in the heat of California’s San Joaquin Valley
than older red grape cultivars like Flame and Crimson. Sugrathirtytwo
has tested well against other commercial red table grape cultivars, and
has been a favorite of visitors to Sun World R&D, however if you visited
us over the past few years, you probably know it by it’s breeder number.
Sugrathirtyone (breeder number 99080-126-251) is a new
fall-season white grape with the berry shape and color reminiscent of
the popular Sugraone (SUPERIOR SEEDLESS®)
cultivar. Sugrathirtyone is highly productive, large and is considered
to be ‘grower friendly’ because it is spur-pruned. The addition of
Sugrathirtyone to the Sun World lineup offers licensees a high quality
fall-season white grape that will be fresher-looking on the store
shelves than grapes that have been in storage.
New Plums
Suplumthirtysix (breeder number 96P031-003-101) is a new
Angeleno season plum more commonly known as 'The Apple Plum' to
licensees who have visited Sun World R&D. "It is the most unique and
memorable plum you'll ever taste", Bacon said, adding "it is crisp, and juicy,
and has an undeniable apple-like flavor and aroma". Suplumthirtysix
fruit is also large and the tree is highly productive.
 96P024-003-430 is a new late plum cultivar
comprising the BLACK DIAMOND line
that is harvested four weeks later than the popular original BLACK
DIAMOND, Suplumeleven cultivar. The '430' is attractive on the outside,
with a smooth full-black finish with few defects, and beautiful
‘watermelon-red’ flesh inside. 430 has outstanding flavor, with 18-19
brix sugar and juicy, slightly aromatic flesh.
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