“We are pleased with how the year is laying out,” said Shaun Ricks, vice president of Eagle Eye Grape Guys LLC in Visalia, CA, a subsidiary of Eagle Eye Produce Co. in Idaho Falls, ID. “We feel we will be up about 25 percent from last year” in San Joaquin Valley grapes for the 2014 season.

The company will have new acreage I production this year in several varieties, including several new varieties. Much of that will be in mid and late season varieties. However, The Grape Guys will also see increases in two varieties for the early season.

“We have a very significant Summer Royal crop. That can be as early as anything,” Ricks said. “I think this year we are probably looking at about the first of July, because we won’t pick until we get solid 100 percent black” color on the grapes. In Summer Royals, “we will see about a 15 percent increase,” he said.

In Sugraones, Rick expects about a 20 percent increase this year.

The company’s Flame seedless production will probably be stable, he said. “Flames have always been a big variety for us. We consider ourselves a a bit of a red [grape] house. At least that is the way it has always been in the past. It is still that way to a large degree, although we are bringing more greens in.”

In addition to more Sugraones, The Grape Guys will have more Princess and more Autumn Kings this year than ever before.

“The Thompson is the one [variety] that unfortunately seems to be on its way out,” he said. “It is unfortunate because I happen to think it is the best eating of all the greens, maybe of all the grapes … if it is allowed to finish.”

For many years, “we packed [Thompsons] for storage, for the late deal,” Ricks said. “That fruit always had to be fully finished. It would be a nice cream finish. You bite into that grape, and it is special. It is meaty; it is flavorful.”

It is, nonetheless, on the wane.

In addition to an overall increase in volume for The Grape Guys this year, “we are anticipating most of that increase to be in the newer varieties,” Ricks said. They generally have larger berry size and, in the red varieties, better color than the older varieties. Among them are Scarlet Royal, Vintage Red and “some of the Sheehan varieties” such as Magenta which “we have with some of our growers.”

However, “we are still looking for a really good early red,” he added. “There are a few things that are on the drawing board, but I can’t say there is a new variety that is going to push the Flame out yet.”

The company’s 2014 crop in Arvin and throughout the San Joaquin Valley appears to be ample, Ricks said. “We feel like we have good volume and good bunch count” on the vines. “We got a good shatter,” which gives remaining berries room to grow, so “berry size should be good.” The timing is seven to 10 days earlier than normal “depending on the variety.”

The Grape Guys expects to pack a higher percentage of clamshells this year in the two, three, and four-pound formats. “That pack style lis growing,” Ricks said, but “I don’t see it supplanting the bags,” because the new high-graphic stand-up bag “seems to really b e favored by the retailers.” Growers who pack fruit in other bags such as sliders “are discounting,” and even then, “there are plenty of people [who] just won’t accept it.”