Melissa’s Produce is adding a splash of red to the winter fruit market with the debut of the Red Heart K grape, the latest addition to the company’s luxury line.
With a similar size and texture to its green sister’s, the South Korean-grown variety promises a “touch of luxury to snacking, entertaining, and gifting.”
Exclusive to Melissa’s and available only through December, the Red Heart K grape started moving even before any publicity began, Director of Public Relations Robert Schueller tells FreshFruitPortal.com.
“For having them for a week, we're starting to sell them very nicely,” Schueller says. “They're a unique and exciting item to extend to the line of our Melissa's brand.”
The Red Heart K grapes are a hybrid of the Shine Muscat varietal, already tried and true under the K Grape brand, but now with a distinctive, naturally occurring heart shape.
Additionally, the seedless grape has a thin, palatable skin for a "luxurious, rare fruit experience,” Schueller adds.
The timing of Red Heart K grapes' launch, which comes as the US transitions out of its domestic grape season, is intentional, as the company aims to position the product within the premium fruit gifting segment during the US winter holidays. The move echoes Asian gifting customs, where boxed fruit continues to hold cultural significance.
“The impressive thing is the red heart shape,” he says. “It just screams like, ‘Wow, what a great gift to give someone!’”
Melissa’s expects retail pricing for Red Heart K grapes to reach between $55 and $60 per one-pound package. The price point, while well above the market average, responds to the high-end nature of the product, Schueller explains, which is exclusively distributed by the firm.
With the addition of Red Heart K grapes, the company continues to “scratch the surface on all the exciting varieties available around the world.” As Schueller puts it, Melissa’s long-time bet on premium and novelty products responds to a broader industry trend, which, the executive says, the distributor is proud to lead.
“We just happen to be a company that gets to introduce so many [different varieties] because we've worked with so many countries to bring something viable and popular to the US marketplace. That's really what Melissa's has been all about,” the executive adds.
Red Heart K grapes join a portfolio that includes the Ruby Glow and Pink Glow pineapples, as well as the Pink and Golden Elephant mango—items that often enter the US via Melissa’s before reaching wider distribution.
“These aren't products for everyone, but for someone who wants to have a rare, hard-to-find experience, it fits this category,” Schueller says.
Melissa’s plans to lean on existing K Grape distribution rather than build new channels.
“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Schueller says when asked about future marketing efforts for the product. The company currently distributes Red Heart K grapes and the rest of the brand in major metropolitan markets nationwide, particularly where retailers cater to specialty or high-end shoppers.
The executive trusts that the fruit’s visual identity may extend its relevance beyond the winter holidays. “This would be an awesome item to have for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day,” he adds.
*All photos courtesy of Robert Schueller | Melissa's Produce.
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