Stevco Inc., which is headquartered in Los Angeles and has branch offices in Nogales, AZ, and in Coachella and Bakersfield, CA, has seen its California grape program increase steadily at a rate of more than 10 percent a year over the last four years. This year, the growth continues, with much of the increase being in three varieties, according to Jared Lane, vice president of sales and marketing. Those varieties are Scarlet Royal, Vintage Red and Autumn King.

Jared Lane, Dustin Clyde and Dave Clyde of Stevco.In Scarlet Royals, a mid-season red seedless, “we have grown quite a bit, and mostly on the front end,” he said. “We are going to have a lot of Scarlet Royals in August and September.” With 120 acres of new vineyards added to the 240 acres already in production, that is an increase of 50 percent over last year in producing acreage, and with last year’s vines being now a year older, they will “produce better volume and quality of fruit.”

Another major growth variety for the company is Autumn King, a late season green seedless variety. “This year, we will be double what we were last year in production,” Mr. Lane said. Those were expected to start mid-October.

Stevco has opted for Autumn King over another newer late-season variety, the Luisco. Autumn King has “a bigger berry and a little bit better eye appeal than Luisco,” Mr. Lane said. “Luisco is a good grape, but it is a little harder to produce, from what we have experienced. From a production standpoint and eye appeal and taste, I think Autumn King wins hands down.”

The variety Stevco will see the biggest percentage of growth in this year is Vintage Red, he said. That is a late season variety which will be harvested in October and November.

The season is earlier this year than last year by about 14 days and is several days earlier than normal, Mr. Lane said. Having the extra days to market the fruit “is really going to help us move this large crop.”

When The Produce News talked to Mr. Lane July 7, the company was harvesting Sugraones in the San Joaquin Valley. The crop was not heavy, but more average in size, he said. But quality “has been outstanding.”

The company’s next green seedless variety, Princess, “should start around July 16,” he said. “The crop size on the Princess looks above normal” and quality is exceptional. “The maturity level of the Princess is very consistent this year,” he continued. “The berry size in the bunches is also very consistent. I expect this year’s Princess to be some of the best we have ever produced at Stevco.” The harvest will be ongoing for about two months.

Princess seems to have become “the predominant favorite for green grapes for August and September,” he said. “I think our production will be up volume-wise over last year just due to more bunches and a little bigger berry size” with volume peaking from mid-August through September 1.

In the red seedless category, Stevco has early Flames, but “we are not real heavy in Flames,” Mr. Lane said. “We have a very small block we are starting next week.”

The Scarlet Royal harvest “should start around July 30” in the Maricopa district, he said. “We should see some Crimsons in late August.”

Another mid-season red seedless variety is Sweet Scarlet. “We have one block of Sweet Scarlets,” Mr. Lane said. “It is a very difficult grape to grow,” but because of its excellent eating quality, “it is in very high demand.”

The company will also have Autumn Royal black seedless grapes starting in late August.

“Our biggest [volume] variety we produce is Red Globe,” Mr. Lane said. “We have over 1.2 million boxes. We go all over the world with the Red Globe.”

New on staff at Stevco this season, is Sales Manager Jason Fuller who joined the company in March. He has been in the industry since 1995 and was previously at Castle Rock Vineyards.