Local fruit-breeders help keep shelves stocked year-round
February 21, 2021 | by John Fox
Feb. 21—U.S. shoppers expect them and so grocery stores do, too — but how do you deliver a summer fruit like grapes all 52 weeks of the year?
It's not as easy as shipping them from as far away as Brazil, though that's part of it. Only the heartiest grape would survive the trip still looking fresh and crunchy.
That's where Kern County fruit breeders come in. Their sophisticated but conventionally based selection methods yield grapes that not only offer long shelf lives but also withstand the temperature fluctuations common on long journeys.
In doing so, local companies have helped raise and now support consumer expectations that are relatively new. Bananas may have become a perennial staple long ago, but having grapes as a year-round fruit became practical relatively recently.
