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For Chance Kirk, of Vincent B. Zaninovich & Sons, transitioning to organic grape production in the San Joaquin Valley is one decision he wants to tout. The marketing director of one of the nation’s most prominent fruit organization’s said conventional sales of grapes are flat, with only specialty packs driving sales. Organic grapes, however, continue to see double digit year over year growth.
“For the first time, we are going to top one million cartons. We could be at 1.1 to 1.2 million. That’s a huge number for us,” Kirk said.
VBZ's Red Seedless Organic Grapes
Besides the nice optic of pushing organic grape production to seven figures, Kirk said it allows the company to offer more packaging options to its customers. “We have every version of clamshell from one pound to four pounds. We will also have a random weight bag, which is the industry standard, and a fixed weight bag.” And the company will also trial some of the specialty conventional offerings in an organic version, such as the bi-color pack.
Kirk said when shipping fewer packages, a company won’t have the volume of fruit to create so many different options. With these volumes, the firm’s organic grape category crashes through the niche sector right into mainstream marketing.
The increased volume comes in virtually all of the VBZ’s varieties. “We will be marketing organic grapes in the new varieties right along with the conventional grapes. If you are ordering a newer variety for conventional display, you’ll be able to order the same variety for organics. It is exciting,” Kirk said..
Kirk said a good gauge of the growth of organics for grapes, as well as for other fruit, is the breeding activity occurring at the U.S.D.A. and public universities. Many are dedicating funds and people to organic production. As the research matures, he expects more and more growers to transition to the organic side.
VBZ's organic grapes.
The veteran agriculturalist reasons that California is one of the few places in the world where you can grow many different organic crops. The weather and the soil allow for organic production like nowhere else in the world. Considering the premium that organic fruits and vegetables command, it makes economic sense for the best land to be used for the highest value crops, Kirk said.
In fact, that is what VBZ does. As it has transitioned from conventional to organic production, Kirk said the company has converted its best land first. In fact, VBZ is currently sitting on a large piece of fallow land of excellent quality gauging the best organic grape to put on that land. He said it is expensive to plant an acre of grapes and “we don’t want to make a mistake.”
According to Kirk, some of the newer varieties don’t have a sufficient track record to justify the investment just yet. VBZ is analyzing these new varieties to determine which ones will have the staying power of some of their long-standing predecessors. While new varieties are the rage, Kirk said it is difficult to beat the longevity of varieties such as Thompson Seedless and Flame Seedless, each of which remained at the top of their color class for multiple decades.
The longtime grape grower-shipper is very excited about its own situation and Kirk can’t wait to share VBZ’s story with the retailers in attendance at the upcoming Organic Produce Summit in Monterey, CA. “It’s my favorite show,” said Kirk, who noted that the company has been an exhibitor and major sponsor since its inception. “The category is on fire and people are passionate about it. It’s fun to be part of something with a huge growth potential.”
