Sunview Marketing looks to grow raisin segment

Sunview Marketing International, situated in the San Joaquin Valley of California, is among the top shippers in the United States.

This third-generation family farm’s roots date back more than a century to the early 20th century, and it has evolved into one of the top table grape producers in the U.S. While Sunview’s primary market is the U.S., it also exports to international markets creating a worldwide demand.

“This year has been off to a good start,” said Mitch Wetzel, vice president of sales and marketing for the Delano, CA-based company. “For us, it’s all about consistency and continuity.”

But it’s not just grapes that Sunview is known for. Years ago, it also started getting involved in the shipping of dried fruit. This includes raisins — red, green and black on the organic side, and a medley mix of red, black and golden on the conventional side.

All of its raisins are jumbo size and 100 percent California-grown. Prior to harvest, the grapes Sunview grows to make its raisins reach full maturity — providing peak flavor and moisture — create the perfect raisin.

Wetzel noted that while most raisin grapes are dried on the ground on paper trays, Sunview’s raisins are hand-harvested into small bins so they never touch the dirt. From there, grapes are dried at the company’s own dehydration facility, where the entire process is controlled. Finally, raisins are sorted by laser and by hand to ensure that only the perfect raisins are selected.

“It’s really about utilization,” Wetzel said about what prompted the company to start in the dried fruit sector. “There’s so much talk about food waste and product utilization, and we also own some wineries as well, so it’s all about how can we maximize the value of each acre of grapes.”

Dried fruit is an area Sunview is expanding on in 2024, with new packaging coming later in 2024.

“We are seeing more and more interest on the raisins. There’s been a good demand in both traditional domestic retail as well as in Asia,” Wetzel said. “We’ve traditionally always been a big export company and we continue to try and develop and see how we can expand. It’s like anything else, you have to keep developing your product line to keep up with the demand.”

Demand in raisins have increased thanks to what Wetzel noted is a unique process.

“On a traditional raisin, you would get 1,000 to 1,200 pieces per pound,” he said. “Ours are more in-line with roughly double the size.”

The family oversees an operation dedicated to cultivating grapes and sun-dried raisins, but everyone understands that it truly takes a community to successfully grow both products. Wetzel credits the importance of the numerous families who collaborate with the ownership team daily.

“We value our people, and our staff is with us throughout the year,” he said. “Thanks to their long-term commitment, Sunview boasts one of the most experienced and skilled teams in the industry. It is the dedicated individuals at Sunview who enable us to uphold our top-notch quality and exceptional customer service.”

Having been in business for so long, the company understands the keys to success. “The key to strong partnerships is communication and collaboration,” Wetzel said. “We try to give the customer real talk on what we see going on, not just with us but the entire industry.”