Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Savia Grapes













I wasn't able to attend the May 13-14 events in Wilmington and Philadelphia championing the trial shipmemnts of Savia grapes from Chile.



Here is a description of what the photos show (I found the videos on Youtube). From Alejandro Fernandez Fuenzalida.



Please find attached some pictures from our launch today at Holt Terminal, NJ. ( 12, 24 and 48 hrs at Room Temperature), and also one portraying Gastón García (Biochemist, Founder and Director of Rethink who invented and developed Saviagrapes) along with Manuel José with Decofrut..

All of these Thompson Seedless were harvested last March 27th in San Felipe, 5th Region, under normal harvesting, cooling, transit conditions, the only difference among them is the Saviagrapes device which keeps the grape fresher for longer periods.

I am also attaching some printed material, for your reference.


Best Regards,

Alejandro Fernandez Fuenzalida
Marketing Manager of SaviaGrapes

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A new technology from Chile

From our good friend Manuel J. Alcaino of Decofruit came this fascinating letter to my inbox this morning:

I want to bring to your attention a new technology called Savia Grapes, developed by a bright young Chilean biochemist, with whom Decofrut has recently partner.

Savia Grapes is a system made up of a capsule that is inserted in the stem of a recently cut grapes bunch.

The capsule contends gel with micronutrients that resembles natural sap and nourishes the bunch as it has never been removed from the vine.

The results extending shelf live of table grapes are spectacular; they look fresher, alive and appealing after prolonged storage.

Main effect is over the green color of the stem, but there are positive side effects as well, such as:

Less shatter, less sunken cup stems and apparently less decay.

I predict that in the mid term, most of the table grape industry world wide will be using Savia Grapes, in a shift that is set to become one of the biggest evolutions in the fruit industry.

And the main reason for this is that grapes can be stored longer and shrinkage at retail level will be drastically reduced.


At the end of this current Chilean season, an equivalent to 30 loads of grapes will be the first “samples” shipped from Chile to markets world wide.

We will make a presentation early April with the first consignment arriving to the US and I would like to invite you to cover the event.

Should you want to receive more information please feel free to request it, or visit www.saviagrapes.cl

Best regards

Manuel J. Alcaino

TK: If it does what it claims, this product may be well valued by both the trade and consumers. We look forward to hearing more about this development, and the evaluation of the first test shipments arriving to the U.S.




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