Shaun Ricks, president of Cutler, CA-based The Grape Guys, told The Produce News June 1 that he has some of the first grapes out of the San Joaquin Valley.

Shaun Ricks, president of The Grape Guys, with Sales Manager Mark Kalafut.“I have a grower who is in Maricopa and in south Kern County, so I will have fruit as early as anybody,” he said, adding that only two or three other growers in the valley will have fruit as early.

“That district, for me, is about 200,000 boxes, and as of right now, it is slated to begin harvest probably around the 28th of June,” he said. “A grower is telling me it [may be] earlier, but he is typically a little optimistic. I am thinking the 28th of June.” In any case, weather permitting, “we’ll see fruit in June for the first time in three years. The last two years, we have started on or about July 12.”

That is significant, he said, “because the Mexican crop and the Coachella crop have had two weeks of extra selling [time] the last two years, and this year that may not be true if, in fact, the crop begins when we are currently estimating.”

The Grape Guys also has other growers in Kern County that will begin harvesting in early July, he said. They represent “probably another 250,000 boxes.”

The principal early varieties are Flames, Thompsons and Summer Royals, he said. “We do have some Perlettes that will get us through the first 10 days,” and a small amount of Sugraones in that period, but the volume is not significant.

“We’ve got a very early Thompson block” that will start before the end of July this year, he said. In addition, “we may see some Princess out of there” during the early period.

The crop looks good overall, Mr. Ricks said. “We like what we see hanging. The crop is coming along nicely. I am trusting that it is going to finish out and get the size that we are looking for.”

The total packout for The Grape Guys in the San Joaquin Valley will probably be down from last year, “because we are doing some transitioning to new varieties,” Mr. Ricks said. “We are trying to refine our program a bit. We are pulling some acreage of what I would call legacy varieties and planting some newer varieties. We like the Scarlet Royal. We like the Autumn King. The Vintage Red we like as well. Those are the three that we are moving toward with some significant amount of our program.”

Some of the new vineyards are replacement plantings. Some are existing vineyards that have been grafted over to new varieties.

Because of that transitioning, “we have actually gone backwards the last couple of years in terms of total packout, but it is for a good cause,” he said.

The process has been ongoing for a while, so some of the new vineyards have already started to come into production. “This is the second year of production for some of it,” he said. “We do a little bit every year, as opposed to trying to go in and just whack a bunch of [existing vineyards] and then spending three years out of production. It is a more measured approach” which allows for “the step backward” in volume to be “more modest.”

In packaging, The Grape Guys will continue doing “all of the same stuff” as in the past, including two, three and four-pound clamshells, and will also be introducing a new stand-up gusseted bag in both random weight and fixed weight, he said.

Sales continue to be handled by Mr. Ricks and his partner, Mark Kalafut. “We have the same crew in the fields and the same loading locations” as last year, he said.

Currently “my partner and I are both down in Nogales,” he said. “We have been here since May 7 and we will be here until the crop is finished or until we start in Arvin, whichever comes first. One or both of us will be up there with that crop,” working out of the Nogales office, “from day one” of the San Joaquin Valley deal.