Grapes to be major component of SGS program
Grapes to be major component of SGS program
TRAVER, CA -- Knowing the Scattaglia name, one might expect that the newly formed Scattaglia Growers & Shippers LLC, here, will be a major shipper of stone fruit. After all, Louis Scattaglia, managing partner of SGS, is an owner of Scattaglia Farms in Littlerock, CA, a 30-year-old farming operation that produces more than 1 million boxes of stone fruit that will be marketed through SGS in addition to at least another 1.5 million boxes of California stone fruit from a small number of sizable growers.
But table grapes will also be a major component of the new company's program, with California volume for 2008 expected to be at least 2.2 million boxes, according to Craig Calandra, a viticulturist and the partner in charge of the grape operations.
As with the stone fruit, the company's grapes are being grown by just a handful of selected growers, all of them in close proximity to the New Leaf cold storage facility, here, where the company's sales offices are housed and where the grapes will be cooled and loaded.
The SGS grape program "is different from the average deal" in that regardless of who is growing the grapes, all aspects of the farming operation -- from pruning through harvesting, packing and cooling -- are fully under SGS control, with one person, Mr. Calandra, in charge, emphasized Bob Witt, a partner with Mr. Scattaglia, John Blalock and Sam Perricone in Scattaglia Farms and also in SGS.
The quality-control personnel "are SGS people -- not the growers' people -- from the field to the cold storage," Mr. Witt said. "This is a unique situation. Very few shippers or sales organizations have complete control of the quality all the way through."
Mr. Calandra elaborated on this point, noting that SGS field personnel under his direction are involved even during the planting and vineyard development stages. In fact, even prior to that, SGS is involved in decisions regarding which varieties to plant.
Similarly, food-safety programs are all overseen by SGS, and all the growers are currently working toward GlobalGAP certification, Mr. Calandra said.
Besides overseeing all aspects of all the grape-farming operations for SGS growers, Mr. Calandra, who holds a degree in viticulture from California State University-Fresno, is a grape grower and has been for 20 years. Actually, his experience in grape production goes back to his early years.
As a teenager, he worked in his uncle's vineyards, methodically learning the business. "Before I could teach somebody how to prune, I had to go prune for one whole season," he said. "Then one year I had to pack everything, and then the next year I would pick. That is how I learned to become a supervisor. Then I could walk the line and check quality control."
Grape sales at SGS are handled by Bryan Large, Anthony Martino and Derald Rager, all of who are partners in SGS, and by Steve Rusca.
Mr. Large graduated from CSU-Fresno with a degree in agricultural marketing, worked for a time as a field inspector, and has been in produce sales for 18 years.
Mr. Martino graduated from CSU-Fresno with a degree in agricultural business, worked as a field inspector for a couple of years and has been on the sales desk for 15 years.
Mr. Rager, whose family has been farming stone fruit and grapes in the Dinuba, CA, area since around 1948, studied agricultural business and management at Arizona State University. He has 27 years of industry experience, including five years in procurement.
Mr. Rusca has a degree in entomology from CSU-Fresno and has been involved in produce sales for 27 years.
Communication from the field to the sales office and from the sales office to the customer, as well as from the customer back to sales and back to the field, will be a major focus at SGS, according to Mr. Large.
"Having so much control in the field by a managing partner" and having managing partners in the sales office as well will "facilitate the whole process" of getting timely information to the buyers "and also getting information back from the buyers to us and to the field to help us plan the future weeks," Mr. Large said.
A lot of "real-time information" is needed to sell grapes, said Mr. Rager. "You need to plan and have a strategy" from the beginning to the end of the season, "and you need to set up programs with customers."
Leading into the central San Joaquin Valley deal, SGS will have early-season grapes available out of both Mexico and Coachella, CA.
In the San Joaquin Valley, the company will have its own grapes "that we are responsible for from the ground up" from May "all the way through Christmas in good volume," said Mr. Witt.
In red seedless varieties, the season will start in May with Flame seedless, followed by Scarlet Royal, Crimson and a new proprietary red seedless variety exclusive to SGS called SGS/Summer Red Raven.
The black seedless category will consist of Summer Royal, Autumn Royal and other black seedless varieties.
In its green seedless program, SGS will be offering Princess, Thompson and Autumn King. Coming into production in 2009 will be a proprietary variety designated SGS white seedless "to complement Red Raven," Mr. Calandra said.
"We will have available different types of packages" such as bags, clamshells and wraps, said Mr. Martino. He also noted that the company would be a "big late-season shipper" with good supplies through the end of the year.
Following the San Joaquin Valley grape deal, SGS "can carry through with import products, with SGS people on the ground for the import deals to assure consistency in import quality to back up our summer programs," said Mr. Large.
But table grapes will also be a major component of the new company's program, with California volume for 2008 expected to be at least 2.2 million boxes, according to Craig Calandra, a viticulturist and the partner in charge of the grape operations.
As with the stone fruit, the company's grapes are being grown by just a handful of selected growers, all of them in close proximity to the New Leaf cold storage facility, here, where the company's sales offices are housed and where the grapes will be cooled and loaded.
The SGS grape program "is different from the average deal" in that regardless of who is growing the grapes, all aspects of the farming operation -- from pruning through harvesting, packing and cooling -- are fully under SGS control, with one person, Mr. Calandra, in charge, emphasized Bob Witt, a partner with Mr. Scattaglia, John Blalock and Sam Perricone in Scattaglia Farms and also in SGS.
The quality-control personnel "are SGS people -- not the growers' people -- from the field to the cold storage," Mr. Witt said. "This is a unique situation. Very few shippers or sales organizations have complete control of the quality all the way through."
Mr. Calandra elaborated on this point, noting that SGS field personnel under his direction are involved even during the planting and vineyard development stages. In fact, even prior to that, SGS is involved in decisions regarding which varieties to plant.
Similarly, food-safety programs are all overseen by SGS, and all the growers are currently working toward GlobalGAP certification, Mr. Calandra said.
Besides overseeing all aspects of all the grape-farming operations for SGS growers, Mr. Calandra, who holds a degree in viticulture from California State University-Fresno, is a grape grower and has been for 20 years. Actually, his experience in grape production goes back to his early years.
As a teenager, he worked in his uncle's vineyards, methodically learning the business. "Before I could teach somebody how to prune, I had to go prune for one whole season," he said. "Then one year I had to pack everything, and then the next year I would pick. That is how I learned to become a supervisor. Then I could walk the line and check quality control."
Grape sales at SGS are handled by Bryan Large, Anthony Martino and Derald Rager, all of who are partners in SGS, and by Steve Rusca.
Mr. Large graduated from CSU-Fresno with a degree in agricultural marketing, worked for a time as a field inspector, and has been in produce sales for 18 years.
Mr. Martino graduated from CSU-Fresno with a degree in agricultural business, worked as a field inspector for a couple of years and has been on the sales desk for 15 years.
Mr. Rager, whose family has been farming stone fruit and grapes in the Dinuba, CA, area since around 1948, studied agricultural business and management at Arizona State University. He has 27 years of industry experience, including five years in procurement.
Mr. Rusca has a degree in entomology from CSU-Fresno and has been involved in produce sales for 27 years.
Communication from the field to the sales office and from the sales office to the customer, as well as from the customer back to sales and back to the field, will be a major focus at SGS, according to Mr. Large.
"Having so much control in the field by a managing partner" and having managing partners in the sales office as well will "facilitate the whole process" of getting timely information to the buyers "and also getting information back from the buyers to us and to the field to help us plan the future weeks," Mr. Large said.
A lot of "real-time information" is needed to sell grapes, said Mr. Rager. "You need to plan and have a strategy" from the beginning to the end of the season, "and you need to set up programs with customers."
Leading into the central San Joaquin Valley deal, SGS will have early-season grapes available out of both Mexico and Coachella, CA.
In the San Joaquin Valley, the company will have its own grapes "that we are responsible for from the ground up" from May "all the way through Christmas in good volume," said Mr. Witt.
In red seedless varieties, the season will start in May with Flame seedless, followed by Scarlet Royal, Crimson and a new proprietary red seedless variety exclusive to SGS called SGS/Summer Red Raven.
The black seedless category will consist of Summer Royal, Autumn Royal and other black seedless varieties.
In its green seedless program, SGS will be offering Princess, Thompson and Autumn King. Coming into production in 2009 will be a proprietary variety designated SGS white seedless "to complement Red Raven," Mr. Calandra said.
"We will have available different types of packages" such as bags, clamshells and wraps, said Mr. Martino. He also noted that the company would be a "big late-season shipper" with good supplies through the end of the year.
Following the San Joaquin Valley grape deal, SGS "can carry through with import products, with SGS people on the ground for the import deals to assure consistency in import quality to back up our summer programs," said Mr. Large.
