Grapery is on a mission to deliver the world’s best-tasting grapes – traveling far and wide to discover unique varieties that bring flavor and fun to your table!

Table grapes are often sorted into three simple categories: red, green and black – but grapes are much more nuanced than people realize. California growers produce more than 80 different varieties, while thousands of wild grape varieties can be found around the world. 

Each variety brings its own combination of flavor, shape, color and texture. At Grapery, plant breeders are taking those unique characteristics and pairing them with the qualities consumers want in a table grape, from thin skins to seedless fruit.

“We’re going around the world searching for wild species of grapes that have amazing flavors and breeding those flavors into thin-skinned seedless table grapes that consumers can enjoy,” Jim explains.

Growing for flavor

Grapery originally started its breeding program with two goals in mind: developing table grapes that could hold up to the long shelf life retailers need while bringing back the kind of flavors consumers want. Jim notes that those two things haven’t always gone hand in hand.

“There’s tremendous pressure in our food system to deliver cheap food that lasts a long time with a great appearance,” he says. “As farmers and breeders, we’ve been hearing that message from retailers for decades. The problem is that usually the traits that help you achieve those goals go against great flavor.”

To bridge that gap, Grapery began bringing older grape varieties and wild species back into the breeding process. Many of these grapes have incredible flavors, but don’t necessarily have the shelf life or appearance expected from today’s table grapes. The goal is to combine the best qualities of both.

“We’ve been involved in ventures in genetics and breeding for more than 20 years to try to bring great flavors into the fruit that people get to eat every day,” Jim says.

No genetic modification: Just plant-breeding + cross-pollination

Before going any further, let’s dive into exactly how these new grapes are created. Jim lays out the breeding process, stating, “We collect varieties from around the world. We cross the flowers, the pollen from one parent with the ovary of another. Then, we create new varieties out of that.” Considering how best to explain the process, he continues. “So, when you cross two parents of grapes, the berry inside has a seed in it that develops, and the seed is the child of the two parents.” 

If you’ve got a decent understanding of plant science, that process makes sense – but what happens if you’re trying to breed or create seedless varieties? We lobbed that particular question at Jim, who quickly answered, “There are no seedless grapes. If you cut a grape open, you’ll see there’s a remnant of a seed inside there. A seedless grape is the perception of being seedless because that seed aborts during the ripening stages of the grapes. So, when we cross two parents, we harvest that fruit when it’s immature. Then, in a lab under a microscope – because it’s tiny. We cut that berry open, and we pull that seed embryo out before it’s aborted. We can keep it alive in a tissue culture and grow it into a new plant. And that’s how we breed seedless grape varieties.”

Jim understands that some customers are still skeptical about how Grapery grapes are developed. Mindful of that fact, he assures them none of what they do is GMO. “Everything we do is through cross-pollination. We don’t do any GMO.” He pauses and then adds, “There are no grapes that I know of that are commercially grown as GMO.”

Really, really ripe grapes

At the end of the day, the final decision always comes down to flavor. Jim admits, “We’re constantly out here tasting fruit – there’s no substitute for that.”

From vineyard to produce aisle

Once the grapes are harvested, they’re field packed and quickly moved into cold storage to help preserve their flavor and freshness. At the grocery store, Grapery’s colorful, eye-catching packaging helps the fruit stand out on the shelf, but Jim says the real draw is what’s inside the package.

He argues that there’s no better way to sell a grape than letting people taste it for themselves. Once shoppers try a Grapery brand grape, the reaction tends to speak for itself.

“You can talk about flavor all you want, but the look of surprise on someone’s face when they’re delighted with delicious fruit tells more of a story than words ever can,” Jim asserts.

Only in California

Taste the Grapery Difference

Look for the following Grapery grapes at major retailers across the U.S.! Use their interactive map to find Grapery grapes near you. 

Learn more about Cotton Candy grapes and Grapery’s plant-breeding program!

Article and photography by Hilary Rance. Grapery product photo courtesy of Grapery.