What Are Candy Heart Grapes? Taste, Season and Where to Buy

Eric DawsonByEric Dawson Candy & Chocolate

If you’re wondering what are candy heart grapes, Candy Hearts™ are a specialty red grape variety bred by International Fruit Genetics for rich, candy-like sweetness, not made with added flavoring. Melissa’s describes caramel and toasted-marshmallow notes, while other tasting descriptions evoke Concord grape juice, raspberry and flowers. They’re sold as seedless, though tiny, soft seed remnants may occasionally occur.

Despite the nickname “red Cotton Candy grape,” Candy Hearts are a distinct variety. Melissa’s lists its season as February through April and August through September, while harvests across both hemispheres can extend availability elsewhere. Retailers that have carried them include Sam’s Club, Kroger, Sprouts and Costco, with selection varying by seller and season.

What Are Candy Heart Grapes and How Are They Sold

Candy Hearts grapes are a red specialty grape variety sold as seedless and known for an unusually rich, candy-like sweetness. Their commercial name is Candy Hearts, while the variety itself is identified as IFG Nineteen.

Branding and variety names describe different aspects of the same fruit. Good Fruit Guide identifies Candy Hearts as the registered marketing name for IFG Nineteen, which also appears as IFG 19. Those labels refer to the same grape variety rather than separate kinds with different colors, flavors or seed classifications.

International Fruit Genetics, usually shortened to IFG, developed the variety through its California breeding program. Melissa’s identifies Bloom Fresh International Limited as the company licensing the Candy Hearts name. Breeding and licensing describe different roles: IFG is credited with creating the grape, while Bloom Fresh is associated with its branding.

Appearance can vary within that red grape description. Berries range from pale purple-red to pink-red, and some have pale yellow-green areas rather than an entirely red exterior. Good Fruit Guide describes them as medium to large, with a round to slightly elongated shape and pale green flesh beneath the skin.

Seedless is the commercial classification, not a promise that every berry will be completely free of seed material. Tasting Table describes occasional seeds as extremely small and soft enough to go unnoticed while eating. Minneopa Orchards likewise acknowledges that seeds can occur, even though Candy Hearts belong to a seedless variety.

Texture descriptions emphasize juicy flesh and skin that is easy to bite. Melissa’s calls the skin supple, while Good Fruit Guide describes the flesh as soft and juicy. GrapeCo Australia highlights a crisp exterior and juicy center, offering a different description of the bite while retaining that emphasis on juiciness.

Despite the candy-themed name, these are grapes rather than fruit coated or filled with candy ingredients. Melissa’s lists only grapes as the ingredient. Natural cross-breeding produced the variety’s distinctive sweetness, and its name was chosen by IFG to communicate that sweetness while giving the fruit a love-themed identity for shoppers.

What Candy Heart Grapes Taste Like

Candy Heart grapes taste intensely sweet, with overlapping descriptions of Concord grape juice, raspberry and flowers, plus caramel and toasted marshmallow. Rather than pointing to a single candy flavor, these tasting notes describe a fruity, aromatic grape whose sweetness can suggest different treats to different people. A little acidity also helps balance that sweetness, according to Good Fruit Guide.

Concord grape juice is a useful starting point for understanding the fruity side. Better Homes & Gardens, reporting IFG’s description, highlights that familiar grape flavor alongside floral tones and a touch of raspberry noted on the packaging. Together, those descriptions emphasize both the grape character and the fruitier accents, rather than describing the sweetness only in terms of candy.

Melissa’s emphasizes a different part of the experience: rich, candied sweetness that develops into concentrated caramel and toasted-marshmallow notes after the initial juicy bite. Those are the seller’s tasting descriptions, not a promise that every grape will taste exactly like either treat. Its account focuses on how the flavor unfolds, with the confection-like notes following that first burst of juice.

Other sellers bring additional fruit notes into the picture. GrapeCo Australia describes raspberry, lychee and cherry-candy hints with delicate floral notes, while Sam’s Club emphasizes cherry and a burst of sweetness. Good Fruit Guide adds a subtle Muscat fragrance and balancing acidity. Across these accounts, sweetness is the common thread, but the aromatic details receive different emphasis from each seller.

Texture descriptions overlap most clearly on juiciness, although their wording differs. Melissa’s calls the skin supple and describes it bursting with sweet juice on the first bite. By comparison, Good Fruit Guide describes soft, juicy flesh and easy-to-bite skin that is only slightly bitter and not especially noticeable during chewing. Both accounts emphasize juice rather than a pronounced crunch.

That description contrasts with Good Fruit Guide’s softer account without changing their shared emphasis on juicy flesh. Read these as individual descriptions of the eating experience: supple skin, soft flesh and a crisp exterior are the particular qualities these sellers choose to highlight.

Users on Reddit have offered more familiar candy comparisons, with a poster in the Halifax community likening the flavor to Skittles or Starburst. Such comparisons are personal impressions, not measured flavor matches or qualities everyone will perceive. For that poster, the candy association captured an enthusiastic reaction; the commercial descriptions instead span grape juice, berries, flowers and toasted sweets.

Candy Hearts vs Cotton Candy Grapes

Melissa’s calls Candy Hearts the “red Cotton Candy Grape,” but that phrase is a marketing comparison, not another name for the same fruit. Both belong to the specialty-grape lineup associated with breeder International Fruit Genetics, or IFG.

Color offers a straightforward way to tell them apart: Candy Hearts are red, while Cotton Candy grapes are green. Individual Candy Hearts berries can range from pink-red to pale purple-red, sometimes with pale yellow-green areas. Those variations still belong to the Candy Hearts variety rather than indicating a different kind of grape.

Comparison Candy Hearts Grapes Cotton Candy Grapes
Color Red to pink-red, sometimes with pale yellow-green areas Green
Flavor Rich, candied sweetness; Melissa’s describes greater flavor dimension Spun-sugar or cotton-candy flavor
Relationship A distinct IFG variety, also called IFG Nineteen A related, separate variety developed by IFG
Seed status Sold as seedless, though tiny soft seed remnants may occasionally occur Described as seedless

Names also help separate the breeding identity from the shopping label. Cotton Candy is a separate variety, not an alternate label for IFG Nineteen. Calling Candy Hearts its “red cousin” conveys the relationship without treating the names as interchangeable.

Melissa’s says Candy Hearts have more flavor “dimension” than Cotton Candy grapes. Such wording expresses the seller’s tasting opinion, not an objective ranking that establishes one variety as better. For shoppers, the useful distinction is between Cotton Candy’s spun-sugar character and the broader candy-like profile used to describe Candy Hearts, rather than a promised upgrade.

Seedlessness is a shared selling point, with a qualification for Candy Hearts. Commercially, the grapes are still classified as seedless. Finding a tiny soft remnant therefore does not, by itself, contradict the Candy Hearts label on the package.

Popularity and preference are separate questions, too. IFG CEO Andy Higgins told Better Homes & Gardens that Cotton Candy grapes sell more than Candy Hearts, while describing Candy Hearts as having a broader palate appeal across age groups. His assessment offers context for the comparison, but it remains an attributed view rather than a universal verdict on taste.

Are Candy Heart Grapes Natural?

Yes, Candy Hearts grapes get their sweetness through grape breeding, not added candy flavoring or sweeteners. Melissa’s lists just one ingredient: “Grapes.” That distinction explains the product’s candy-inspired name without turning it into an ingredient claim: the fruit itself supplies the sweetness, rather than a coating or an added flavor.

Good Fruit Guide identifies the variety’s parents as Princess and A2798, an unnamed University of Arkansas variety. Its account places the breeding program at International Fruit Genetics in California. Hybridization is the documented route behind Candy Hearts, with the resulting grape variety identified as IFG Nineteen and marketed as Candy Hearts.

Broader descriptions of its ancestry identify a cross between Vitis vinifera and Vitis labrusca, a North American grape species. Minneopa Orchards describes the development process as natural cross-breeding and calls the variety non-GMO. Those descriptions address how the grapes were developed, while the grapes-only ingredient list addresses what shoppers are buying.

International Fruit Genetics, often shortened to IFG, is credited with creating the variety. Bloom Fresh International Limited has a different role in Melissa’s product description, which identifies it as the licensor of the Candy Hearts name. Breeding history and name licensing describe different aspects of the grapes, rather than competing explanations.

Buying a package of fruit, however, is separate from obtaining authentic planting stock for a home garden. Minneopa Orchards describes Candy Hearts as a patented IFG-developed variety and explains that new vines are propagated from cuttings rather than seeds. Purchasing grapes for eating therefore should not be confused with purchasing vines.

Seed remnants do not change that distinction. Although Candy Hearts are sold as seedless, tiny, soft seed material can occasionally occur inside a berry. Finding some does not make store-bought fruit a practical route to growing this variety from seed; the documented propagation method depends on vine cuttings instead of seeds.

For shoppers asking if Candy Hearts grapes are natural, the useful distinction is breeding versus added ingredients. Their development involved crossing grape varieties, and Melissa’s ingredient list contains grapes alone. Home growing raises a separate question about authentic planting stock, not about how the fruit acquired its characteristic sweetness through breeding.

When Are Candy Heart Grapes in Season?

Candy Heart grapes have a broader season than a single summer harvest: Melissa’s lists selling windows of February through April and August through September, while growers in both hemispheres extend availability beyond those periods. Those dates describe Melissa’s product offering, not a universal schedule for every retailer carrying the variety.

Melissa’s lists Chile and the USA as origins for its Candy Hearts grapes and describes availability as an “extremely limited time.” For shoppers buying through that seller, its two seasonal windows are the relevant reference. Neither window should be read as a promise of uninterrupted stock throughout every listed month.

Broader availability comes from harvests in different growing regions. Better Homes & Gardens describes how licensed Southern Hemisphere growers in Peru, Brazil and Chile supply grapes after the Northern Hemisphere harvest ends, allowing the variety to reach the market year-round. That broader supply pattern does not guarantee year-round stock at an individual store.

Good Fruit Guide classifies Candy Hearts as a mid-to-late-season variety and identifies Spain, California, Chile and South Africa as growing locations. Here, “mid-to-late-season” describes the grape’s place within a growing season. Different growing regions help explain why one local harvest period does not define the entire shopping calendar for these grapes.

Another seasonal description comes from Minneopa Orchards, which gives July through December as the typical U.S. availability window while also describing production across both hemispheres. Rather than replacing Melissa’s dates, that range reflects a broader view of the market. Seller-specific windows and general availability descriptions answer different questions about timing.

Divine Flavor offers an example of how supply can shift between growing regions. Its December 2023 update described limited Chilean Candy Hearts supply continuing for the next several months until the Jalisco and Sonora, Mexico season began. Such a dated production update illustrates the handoff, rather than establishing a permanent annual retail calendar.

Think of the season as overlapping regional harvests, with individual sellers offering their own windows within that broader supply. Imported fruit can appear outside Melissa’s listed months without contradicting its schedule. Ultimately, where to buy Candy Heart grapes depends on the retailer and season, not simply on the variety’s potential for year-round availability.

Where to Buy Candy Heart Grapes

Check Target, Kroger, Sprouts, Sam’s Club, Publix and Melissa’s online listing for Candy Hearts grapes. Reddit users have also reported finding them at Costco, making that another place to check rather than a promise of stock at your local warehouse.

Retail listings are useful starting points, but keep the seller, package size and listing context together. A page describing Candy Hearts grapes identifies a product to look for; its displayed price or past availability belongs to that particular listing, not every store carrying the variety.

  1. Start with Target, Kroger and Sprouts. Tasting Table names these retailers as sellers of Candy Hearts grapes, so check their produce offerings for the named variety rather than treating any package of red grapes as a match.
  2. Try Sam’s Club and Publix next. Minneopa Orchards names both retailers, and Sam’s Club has listed a 3-pound Candy Heart Grapes pack. Compare the product name and package weight when checking the club’s listing.
  3. Use Costco sightings as a lead. Users on Reddit report finding Candy Heart grapes at Costco, but those shopping experiences describe individual purchases. Treat the reports as a reason to check your warehouse, not confirmation of its selection.
  4. Check Melissa’s for an online option. Its Candy Hearts listing describes three packages of 16 ounces each, not a single 16-ounce package. Read the package description alongside the listing’s ordering status before deciding how much to buy.
  5. Compare prices only with their context attached. Match the retailer and package size, then check the ordering options for your location. Avoid using an older price estimate as the amount to expect at checkout.

Melissa’s listed its three-package product as sold out in the September 2026 listing reviewed here. Treat that dated status as a snapshot of that offer, then check the listing when shopping rather than extending it to other retailers or later purchases.

Sam’s Club listed its 3-pound pack at $4.87, or $1.62 per pound, in an undated listing, as of September 2026. Those figures describe that offer rather than a universal Candy Hearts price, so keep them separate from any price displayed during your own shopping visit.

For another historical reference, Tasting Table estimated about $4 to $5 per pound on June 17, 2025. Compare that estimate with its date in mind, rather than treating it as today’s expected price.

Before ordering, confirm that the selected product is Candy Hearts and review its package size, price and purchase options. Melissa’s uses the phrase “red Cotton Candy Grape” to describe Candy Hearts.

Ways to Eat Them and What the Nutrition Label Says

Candy Heart grapes can be eaten chilled, paired with cheese and nuts, added to salads, roasted or frozen for a sweet snack. Divine Flavor’s nutrition label lists 100 calories and 22 grams of total sugar per 140-gram serving, giving you a specific portion to use when considering their nutritional profile.

Chilled grapes are a straightforward way to serve them, and GrapeCo Australia suggests enjoying them directly from the fridge or adding them to platters. Cheese and nuts offer a savory pairing for their sweetness. For a platter, those pairings put the fruit alongside savory foods rather than making it a separate dessert.

Salads offer another way to work the grapes into a meal. Minneopa Orchards suggests adding them to chicken salad or green salad, as well as rice pilaf. Their sweetness provides a contrast with savory ingredients, so these uses take them beyond snacking without requiring a dessert recipe built around the fruit.

Roasting is also among Minneopa Orchards’ suggested preparations, with roasted grapes used as a topping for pork chops, chicken or bruschetta. Ice cream is another suggested pairing if you prefer a dessert. These options give the same fruit a place in either a savory dish or a sweet course after dinner.

Frozen grapes provide a cold snack, while freezing them on a skewer creates a popsicle-style treat. Smoothies and juice are other suggested uses, along with jelly and jam. Between frozen snacks, blended drinks and preserves, there are several ways to use the fruit beyond eating it straight from the bunch.

Looking more closely at Divine Flavor’s label, that 140-gram serving contains 25 grams of total carbohydrate. It lists 1 gram of fiber and 22 grams of total sugar. Protein is listed at 1 gram. Fat is listed at 0 grams, with 0 milligrams of cholesterol and 20 milligrams of sodium.

Minerals on the same label include 267 milligrams of potassium, 1 milligram of iron and 14 milligrams of calcium. Those amounts correspond to listed daily values of 6%, 6% and 2%, respectively. Keep the serving size attached to these figures: they describe Divine Flavor’s labeled portion, not an unspecified bowl of grapes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Candy Hearts Grapes Have Seeds?

Candy Hearts grapes are sold as seedless, though tiny, soft seed remnants may occasionally occur. These remnants are generally so small and soft that you may not notice them while eating.

Are Candy Hearts Grapes Flavored with Candy?

Beyond that, candy Hearts grapes get their candy-like flavor from grape breeding, not added candy flavoring or sweeteners. Melissa’s lists only grapes as the ingredient and describes their sweetness as having caramel and toasted-marshmallow notes.

Are Candy Hearts and Cotton Candy Grapes the Same?

Candy Hearts and Cotton Candy grapes are related but distinct varieties. Melissa’s calls Candy Hearts the “red Cotton Candy Grape,” a comparison rather than another name for the same fruit. Cotton Candy grapes have a spun-sugar flavor, while Candy Hearts have descriptions ranging from Concord grape juice and floral notes to caramel.

Can You Buy Candy Hearts Grapes Year-Round?

In practice, candy Hearts grapes can be available year-round through growers in both hemispheres, but availability varies by retailer and season. Melissa’s lists its selling seasons as February through April and August through September. Stores named as sellers include Target, Kroger, Sprouts and Sam’s Club, though that does not guarantee local stock.

Can You Grow Candy Hearts Grapes at Home?

Minneopa Orchards says Candy Hearts’ patented vines are not sold to home gardeners. New vines are propagated from cuttings rather than seeds, so store-bought grapes are not a practical route to growing this variety.

With juicy flesh, their taste comes from breeding rather than added flavoring, and they remain distinct from Cotton Candy grapes. Look for them as seasonal stock varies, then enjoy them chilled, paired with cheese and nuts, or added to salads and desserts.

References

Sources read in September 2026.

Eric Dawson

I'm Eric Dawson, and I write The Money Watch from north Columbus, Ohio. Most of what I cover comes from my own life: renting, a 2014 Honda Fit, parking, computers, food and the bills behind all of it. I spent four years in an apartment-property office and eleven on a distributor's operations desk, reading leases and invoices. Where you need real information, I research the maker's or agency's own page and independent sources and report what they publish. I don't give tax, investment, legal or medical advice.