With community support, the California Associated Raisin Company was established in 1912. In 1915, the brand name Sun-Maid, coined by advertising executive E.A. Berg, was launched; and in 1918 the company opened a new facility near downtown Fresno, California.

As a farmers' cooperative, Sun-Maid is privately owned by 750 families who farm 50,000 acres of raisin grapes in central California.

It all started on a warm day in California's fertile San Joaquin Valley. The year was 1912 when an entrepreneurial group of raisin growers agreed over shared dreams and sturdy handshakes to sell raisins as one.

Lorraine Collett Petersen Lorraine Collett Petersen (December 9, 1892 – March 30, 1983) was an American model hired to promote a corporate trademark as the "Sun-Maid Girl".

Sun-Maid was formed in 1912 under the name California Associated Raisin Company (CARC). Their goal was to pool advertising resources and stabilize prices. The raisin growers had been suffering from wholesale price swings as more and more growers jumped into sun-dried raisins.

TOP RAISIN PRODUCING COUNTRIES 2021

• Turkey.
• United States.
• Iran.

10 Best Raisins Brands

1. Happilo. Happillo is a brand which is the most preferred when it comes to buying raisins.
2. Nutraj. On average, raisins supplied by Nutraj come in round shapes that are highly delicious, appetizing, and wholesome.
3. 24 Mantra.
4. Farmely.
5. Conscious Food.
6. Delight Nuts.
7. Nutty Gritties.
8. 8 Avadata Organics.

In monetary terms, 30% of the global raisin market is concentrated in China ($ 896 million), the United States ($ 454 million) and India ($ 444 million) as of 2018. The largest per capita consumption was in the UK (1.5 tons per 1,000 people), Germany (831 kg per 1,000 people) and Japan (825 kg per 1,000 people).

Top 10 raisin-producing countries in the world

1. Turkey. 353,167 metric tonnes.
2. United States. 332,760 metric tonnes.
3. Iran. 122,595 metric tonnes.
4. Greece. 72,861 metric tonnes.
5. Chile. 51,128 metric tonnes.
6. South Africa. 37,049 metric tonnes.
7. Uzbekistan. 32,893 metric tonnes.
8. Afghanistan. 30,281 metric tonnes.

Lorraine Collett Petersen, the model for the glowing young woman on the Sun-Maid Raisin box, died here Wednesday. She was 90 years old. While in high school in 1915, she posed in front of a blazing sun as the curly-haired young woman in a red bonnet clutching a basket of grapes.

The Sun Maid girl was an actual young woman named Lorraine Collette who posed for the portrait in 1916. The new digitized Sun Maid maiden still has a red bonnet drawn around her raven hair. But the crates of purple and golden grapes arrayed before her chest are gone now.

MARKETING TO AMERICA In 1915, the Cooperative hired a national sales team to market raisins directly to grocers. This effort, in conjunction with the introduction of the new Sun-Maid brand, print advertisements, and recipe booklets, significantly increased America's raisin consumption.

Sun-Maid has served consumers and customers since 1912 by providing premium quality raisins and dried fruits from the raisin and fruit farms of California to homes and eating establishments around the world.

California California raisin acreage (essentially accounting for all U.S. raisin acreage) peaked in 2000 at 280,000 acres. Since then, bearing acreage has declined. In 2014 the bearing acreage for raisins was 190,000 acres (ERS, 2015). In 2021 California continued to lead most acres of raisins at 136,000 acres (NASS 2022).

Golden raisins have more flavonoids - phytonutrients found in plants that give them their color and have antioxidant properties - than regular raisins.

U.S. Grade A is the quality of Raisins with Seeds that have similar varietal characteristics; that have a good typical color with not more than 10 percent, by weight, that may be dark reddish-brown berries; that have a good characteristic flavor; that show development characteristics of raisins prepared from well- ...