This episode of the Voices of the Valley podcast is brought to you today by the Western Growers Association. Supporting producers that grow the best medicine in the world. Find out more at WGA.com.
From watermelon to stone fruit to table grapes, Sun World CEO David Marguleas has decades of experience in bringing vibrant new products to the consumer market. He visits the podcast this week to talk about how his company has made critical new hires and brought breeding in-house to stay at the forefront of molecular technologies. “In the middle of the pandemic we opened our new center for innovation in Wasco, Calif.,” David says. “The new facility is a massive upgrade both technologically and functionally…and we’ve allowed for the expansion of that facility into a number of other crops we believe are begging for innovation that are underserved globally.” (Hint: Think mangoes and cherries.) On the other end of the scale, does innovation ever reach a point of oversaturation? There are now more than 110 table grape varieties grown in California, David says, which means the marketplace is very competitive. The secret? Meet the customer where they are and focus on what they care about the most: “flavor, texture, shelf life, visual appeal” and two new traits, David says, “climate resistance and sustainability.”