For more than a century, when people have thought of Seald Sweet International, they’ve thought of citrus. That’s been changing over the last five years and now is starting to change even more as the company continues aggressive expansion of its deciduous commodity division. This expansion now includes a major Mexican grape deal, which will triple the volume of 2014.

“We are thrilled about this additional product supply for a number of reasons,” said Chief Executive Officer Mayda Sotomayor-Kirk. “Continued development and growth of this category has been an important part of our strategic plan. This enables our company to better serve our customers by meeting their needs in the grape category.”

Red and green seedless grapes from Seald Sweet. Seald Sweet was founded as a Florida citrus cooperative in 1909 and, while still close to those roots, in 1998 the company partnered with the international UNIVEG Group to expand into the global arena, growing worldwide.

“Citrus is our 100 + year history, but since joining UNIVEG we’ve become far more global thinking,” said Category Manager Chris DeSana. “UNIVEG has such an impact in Europe and other global markets that together we’re essentially growing Seald Sweet into a similar business model with a comparable impact in the United States market.”

Through long-term commitments and substantial financial investments, along with strong presences in the two most significant Mexican growing areas, Hermosillo and Caborca, Seald Sweet has positioned itself as a major player in the global grape market.

Seald Sweet’s programs in Peru and Chile, combined with the recent growth in Mexico, allows the company to offer promotable volumes of imported grapes from the start of the year through the 4th of July. The company’s first grapes out of Mexico will be available around the first week in May.

“We’ve been marketing and shipping grapes for the last five years with steady increases and 2015 will be our largest increase to date because of all the additional supply — our Mexican grape program will grow threefold over last year,” DeSana said. “Our three-year trajectory in Mexico alone is 1 million to 1.4 million cases. That is basically without adding any more grower base than we currently have this year.”

That remarkable increase is due to growers doing “a better job around the world supplying distributors and retailers with promotable products at the right times,” DeSana said. “The grape deals are not new by any stretch of the imagination but the volumes have grown where retailers can count on having steady supplies at promotable prices to meet consumer demand.”