Red grapes: Flame Seedless to Crimson across the California season

California grows 99 percent of the table grapes in the United States, and in 2025 its growers harvested 94.2 million boxes worth about $2.49 billion¹. Reds change over every few weeks from May to January as one variety hands off to the next. King Quality Produce receives them from Coachella and the San Joaquin Valley in 18 to 19 lb cartons, bagged or clamshell for retail and loose for foodservice, seedless unless noted.

The reds we carry, in season order

Flame Seedless opens the year. It is the first red of the season, a crisp, round, medium berry² that we carry from May into October, and it remains the most planted table grape in California at 10,506 acres in 2025³. It came out of the USDA Agricultural Research Service breeding program at Parlier, in Fresno County, which also produced Crimson Seedless, Scarlet Royal and Autumn King⁴.

Sweet Celebration (IFG 68-175) is a large oval berry², very sweet, that we carry from June through December. Scarlet Royal is the large oval red that carries the fall; ARS bred it to ripen in mid-August and fill the gap between early Flame and late Crimson⁴, and it stood at 6,047 acres in 2025³. Timco (Sheegene-13) is a large oval berry² with a crunchy bite and good color, July through December. Crimson Seedless is the classic late red: firm, elongated and a strong keeper, on 4,692 acres³. Allison (Sheegene-20, also sold as Fall Bliss) is a large oval late red², August into January. Red Globe is the exception, a seeded variety with a very large round berry popular in export and ethnic markets, still on 5,205 acres³. Holiday closes the year with a large, crisp berry that keeps into the holidays.

The state ships far more than these: in 2024-25 the top 15 varieties made up 77 percent of volume from 86 varieties shipped².

Where and when

The California season opens in the Coachella Valley in May and shifts to the San Joaquin Valley in July. In 2025, Coachella harvest began the week of May 12 and ran toward mid-July, while San Joaquin Valley growers around Arvin and Bakersfield started as early as the week of June 23⁵. Valley harvest continues through December⁵, and cold storage carries fruit into January, which is why the Commission describes the California season as May through January¹. Our reds follow that path: Coachella in May and June, then Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties through the fall, with storage Crimson, Allison and Scarlet Royal into January.

The crop is big and the acreage is shrinking. California harvested 91.5 million 19 lb boxes in 2024 despite heat early in that season⁵, then 94.2 million boxes in 2025, with 29 percent of the crop exported to 56 markets¹. Total table grape acreage fell to 118,000 acres in 2025, down 1.7 percent, with non-bearing acres dropping from 5,000 to 3,000 as growers pulled more than 21,000 acres of vines of all types in twelve months³. Fewer new plantings means the variety mix you see now is roughly the mix you will see for several years.

How to buy them

Our carton is 18 to 19 lb. For retail we pack by the bag or in clamshells; for foodservice we pack loose. Red grapes change over every few weeks through the season, and color grades vary by lot, so ask for the week's varieties and sizes. Berry size runs from medium with Flame to very large with Red Globe, and the newer proprietary reds are bred large².

Maturity is set in the field: California table grapes are harvested at 14 to 17.5 percent soluble solids depending on cultivar and area, or a sugar-to-acid ratio of 20 or higher for early fruit, and red cultivars must also meet a minimum color requirement⁶. On receiving, look at the stems before the berries. Stems respire about 15 times faster than berries⁶, so they brown and dry first, and brown stems mean the fruit has been warm somewhere along the way. Shake a bag gently and listen for shatter, berries dropped from the cap stem; seedless cultivars are less firmly attached than seeded ones, and most shatter comes from rough handling⁶. Look for gray mold nests, cracked berries, and soft, watery berries, which UC Davis calls waterberry⁶.

• Stems green and pliable, not brown and brittle
• Little or no shatter in the bag or clamshell
• No gray mold nests, cracked berries or watery berries
• Color and berry size consistent with the lot you ordered

Storage and shelf life

Packers aim to cool fruit seven-eighths of the way to storage temperature within six hours and to apply sulfur dioxide within 12 hours of harvest⁷. UC Davis recommends storage at -1 to 0 C (30 to 32 F), 90 to 95 percent relative humidity and air movement of about 20 to 40 feet per minute⁶. Berries freeze between 27.1 and 26.6 F depending on sugar content, and stems at 28 F⁶, so the window between ideal and frozen is narrow; set your coldest cooler to 32 F and keep grapes out of the evaporator's direct blast.

Held that way, Flame Seedless can be marketed up to eight to ten weeks after harvest⁷. Respiration is 1 to 2 ml of CO2 per kg per hour at 32 F and 12 to 15 at 68 F⁶, so an afternoon on a warm dock does more damage than a week in the cooler. Gray mold, Botrytis cinerea, is the most destructive postharvest disease of table grapes and will grow at 31 F⁶; the industry controls it with sulfur dioxide, a 100 ppm fumigation for one hour or slow-release pads in the carton⁶. Grapes are not very sensitive to ethylene, but exposure above 10 ppm may contribute to shatter⁶. Keep them cold and closed, and do not wash until service.

Nutrition

USDA FoodData Central lists red and green European-type grapes together. Per 100 g raw: 69 calories, 18.1 g carbohydrate, 15.5 g sugars, 0.9 g fiber, 0.72 g protein and 80.5 g water⁸. Per 100 g they are a source of 191 mg potassium, 14.6 µg vitamin K, 3.2 mg vitamin C, 0.127 mg copper and 72 µg lutein plus zeaxanthin⁸. A cup of grapes weighs 151 g⁸, so a one-cup portion carries roughly 290 mg of potassium. Americans ate 10.9 pounds of fresh grapes per person in 2025¹.

In the kitchen

Red grapes are a color item as much as a flavor item. Produce departments merchandise them in bags and clamshells next to the greens, and the two colors sell each other. Restaurants put them on cheese boards, in chicken and grain salads, roasted with sausage or pork, and frozen as a snack; caterers and school programs buy bags for portioning. The seeded Red Globe has its own customers in Latino and Asian markets, where the big berry and firm skin are the point.

Crimson and the other late reds are the storage grapes that carry Thanksgiving and the holidays; by January, what we sell was picked in the fall and held near 32 F. Treat it the same way in your own cooler and it will hold its snap.

Varieties, sizes and color grades change weekly. Call the office at (213) 627-7181 or email office@kingqualityproduce.com for this week's reds and pack options, bag, clamshell or loose.