Sun World International celebrated its 50th anniversary during its 2026 Symposium and Field Days, an event that honored chairman David Marguleas for his four decades of leadership. The company created the David Marguleas Endowed Research Fund at UC Davis and unveiled a new tasting room at its Center for Innovation in Wasco, California, naming it after Marguleas. Over 450 industry leaders, researchers, and growers gathered in Bakersfield for the occasion, where former breeders joined Marguleas onstage to acknowledge the scientific advancements behind the company’s fruit genetics programs.
The company traces its origins to 1976, when it was founded by Marguleas’ father, Howard Marguleas, alongside Carl Maggio and Domenick Bianco. Originally a California produce marketing firm, it later pioneered commercialized seedless watermelons, seedless table grapes, and seedless lemons. Today, Sun World operates as a global leader in fruit genetics and licensing, with a portfolio encompassing table grapes, mangoes, cherries, stone fruit, citrus, and avocados. The Autumncrisp grape stands as the company’s first $1 billion table grape brand.
Marguleas joined the company in 1986 and held key leadership positions for four decades, becoming president and CEO in 2019 and executive chairman in January 2025. Under his direction, the business transitioned from produce marketing to variety development and licensing, expanding its global network of growers and marketers. The David Marguleas Endowed Research Fund at UC Davis will advance viticulture and enology research, while the David Marguleas Tasting Room, dedicated in 2020 to Howard Marguleas, offers a space for evaluating fruit and consumer experience development.
Honoring Legacy Through Innovation
The tasting room is part of Sun World’s 160-acre breeding and genetics campus, reinforcing the company’s commitment to honoring its founders. This dual recognition highlights the company’s focus on tradition and progress. Sun World now operates offices across six continents, including the United States, Europe, Australia, South America, Israel, and South Africa. Its 2024 acquisition of BioGold, a South African fruit variety rights manager, expanded its licensing portfolio to include citrus, mango, and avocado varieties.
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Bernardo Calvo, Sun World’s president and CEO, emphasized Marguleas’ impact on the company’s direction. “David’s deep industry knowledge and commitment to discovery have helped shape who we are today,” Calvo said. “He has helped set a standard for how Sun World approaches innovation: stay curious, bring the right people together, and keep raising the bar for what fresh produce can deliver.”
Bridging Research and Market Success
The anniversary event also showcased Sun World’s role in connecting research with commercial applications. The UC Davis fund will prioritize viticulture and enology, fields central to California’s grape industry, where Sun World has already achieved prominence with varieties like Autumncrisp. The tasting room serves as a direct extension of the company’s breeding efforts, allowing teams to refine flavors and textures before releasing products to market.
Marguleas reflected on the company’s origins during his remarks. “Fifty years ago, Sun World was founded on a simple but ambitious idea: fruit can be better,” he said. “That idea has guided the company through every stage of its evolution, from early product introductions to the genetics, brands and global connections that define Sun World today. This anniversary is a celebration of the people who built that foundation and the opportunity we have to carry it forward.”
