Carefully timed organic growth continues at Anthony Vineyards
Carefully timed organic growth continues at Anthony Vineyards
Rob Spinelli, salesman at Anthony Vineyards, said the company works to expand organic production to keep pace with burgeoning consumer demand.
“We are increasing to meet those demands,” he told The Produce News. “In the last two to three years, organic volume continues to grow. We must anticipate growth three to four years ahead to coincide with production cycles.”
The scales can tip periodically in the direction of undersupply as a natural response to market conditions. Since it takes grapevines three to four years to come into production, Spinelli said Anthony Vineyards makes business decisions based upon those anticipated volumes and marketplace analysis.
Spinelli said the company is transitioning some mature vineyards to organic, a process which takes three years to complete. “We also have new plantings,” he went on to say. At the current time, organic acreage comprises approximately 30 percent of production land.
Acreage for conventional grapes has increased 10 percent during the past few years. “We try to keep a balance,” Spinelli explained. “We want to offer customers the ability for one-stop shopping for conventional and organic.”
In addition to its domestic sales, Anthony Vineyards also markets table grapes to destinations such as Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, China and the United Arab Emirates.
In addition to grapes, Anthony Vineyards also grows and markets organic Medjool dates. The program began two years ago, and the company services customers throughout North America.
“That category is growing as well,” Spinelli said, adding that consumers are becoming more aware of dates as natural market items become more prevalent.
“People are pushing dates year-round,” he added. “We have organic and conventional dates available year-round.”
Anthony Vineyards dates are marketed under the “Sun Date” label.
