Bakersfield, Calif.- based Anthony Vineyards is having “one of the best (years) we’ve seen in a while,” said salesman Rob Spinelli.
The company grows organic and conventional table grapes, but at least 70% of its volume is organically grown, Spinelli said.
“We’ve been doing organic since 2002,” he said. “We are the leader of the organic grape front.”
Organic grapes in particular have been big movers, he said.
The company will have organic green, red and a few black grapes available into November.
The table grape market has been “very steady and very active,” he said, and he expected that to continue through the fall.
Anthony Vineyards started its program in the Coachella Valley in the spring and switched to the San Joaquin Valley in July.
“We have a consistency of organic grapes from June through November,” Spinelli said.
It’s been a good-quality year so far on size, crunch of the berries and appearance, he said.
When the company first got into organics, buyers were mostly stores that specialized in the organic category, Spinelli said.
But for the past eight to 10 years, just about all supermarkets, including mainstream banners, have been offering organic grapes, he said.
And they’re being promoted more frequently.
Anthony Vineyards launched and expanded its organic program to satisfy customers’ needs.
“If our customers’ needs are growing, we’re going to grow with them,” Spinelli said.
The company has seen a bit of an impact from COVID-19, but still has been doing well, and there had been no impact on workers as of early August.
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