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Cornell Concord grape award has roots in 2018 Western NY summit

New York state is investing $1.3 million in a new Concord Vineyard Improvement Program at Cornell to help bolster New York’s Concord grape industry, which generates $340 million annually. 
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By Jacob Pucci
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  • Center of Excellence in Food and Agriculture
  • Cornell AgriTech
The New York Concord Grape Innovation Award was born from a plan developed at the 2018 Concord Grape Summit, held at the Grape Discovery Center in Chautauqua County.

The New York Concord Grape Innovation Awards will be presented on Dec. 9, the culmination of a plan more than four years in the making to help revitalize and spark innovation in New York’s storied Concord grape industry, according to former state senator Cathy Young.

The idea for the business competition, which is being held at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva and will award over $100,000 in cash prizes and packages of expert support from Cornell University, was born from the 2018 Concord Grape Summit, held at the Grape Discovery Center in Chautauqua County.

Among those who participated in the summit were then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball and Senator Young, who represented Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany and parts of Livingston counties prior to her current role as executive director of the New York State Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture, the organizers of the event.

“As I said at the 2018 summit, Chautauqua County remains the Concord grape capital of America,” Young said, noting that the iconic variety has been grown in the Lake Erie region for over 200 years. “New product development will give another boost to the industry’s farmers, growers and processors.”

Two pairs of hands inspect grape vines with deep purple grapes

Grape growers in Chautauqua County and surrounding areas are part of the Lake Erie Concord Grape Belt, the oldest and largest Concord grape growing region in the world. Statewide, around 121,000 tons of Concord grapes are grown annually on some 30,000 acres of vineyards. Concord is by far the most widely grown grape in New York, making up around 80% of the total tonnage of all grapes grown in the state.

Along with the Lake Erie region, New York has recognized grape growing regions in the Finger Lakes, Niagara, Long Island and Hudson River regions. All told, the grape and wine industries support over 2,000 jobs statewide.

The 12 finalists in the New York Concord Grape Innovation Award competition are located across the state, from Chautauqua County to the Hudson Valley and New York City. The winning beverages and food products will be featured at Taste NY welcome centers and markets across the state.

“The fact that the food and beverage producers participating in the competition are responsible for such a wide range of products speaks to the Concord grape’s limitless potential and its many uses in new and innovative food and beverages,” Young said.

In addition to the grape innovation competition, several other initiatives born during the 2018 have come to fruition, including the launch of a revitalized grape verification program. In partnership between the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets and Cornell AgriTech, the program will provide growers across North America with clean, virus-tested plant material that will ensure disease-free growing stock.

The state also launched several marketing and social media campaigns and invested in the development of Everest Seedless grapes, a seedless Concord-type grape that’s twice the size of a traditional Concord grape, and provided funding for Cornell research, including the use of high-pressure processing (HPP) to make minimally processed Concord grape beverages and the development of de-characterized Concord juice for use in wine production.

In total, the state announced more than $1.5 million in funding to support the Concord grape industry at the 2018 summit.

The New York Concord Grape Innovation Award summit will take place Friday, Dec. 9 at Jordan Hall, 630 W. North St. in Geneva. The public is welcome to attend, and registration is free. Register here to attend.

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