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In the late 1800's many Armenians, recognized as some
of the world's most experienced viticulturists, came to the
Central Valley. Even today, many raisin growers in California are of
Armenian descent. Later, in the 1950's, immigrant farmers from India
found great success in the raisin industry and play a big part in the
industry today.
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While the muscat grape was generally regarded as the
best raisin producer, it was a seeded raisin and the consumer
didn't like seeds. Consequently, muscat raisins had to be seeded
and this meant that the seeds were forced through the skin of the
grapes, resulting in a sticky raisin. Raisin sales in the 1870's were limited to people willing to separate the sticky raisins by hand. What
the growers needed, to expand consumer interest, was a seedless
raisin grape.
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| In 1876, a Scottish immigrant living in the Northern Sacramento Valley, William Thompson first
introduced the Lady deCoverly seedless grape - a thin-skinned, seedless,
sweet and tasty grape - at the Marysville (California) District Fair. These grapes would later become known as Thompson Seedless grape. Since then, many other equally high-quality varieties have been developed, including the Fiesta, Dovine, and Selma Pete. |