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“Retailers might say ‘help us build a program where 15-20 percent of the of- fering is made up of new [varieties], and make it easy to merchandise, com- municate and visualize for the consumer so that when they walk into the produce department they’re in- spired and want more.’ ” — Andy Higgins, International Fruit Genetics
tionize the category and is credited for a 250 percent increase in consumption of fresh pineapple in the United States.”
One fruit category that has witnessed tremendous growth buoyed by new vari- eties is table grapes, and International Fruit Genetics (IFG) of Bakersfield, CA, is one of the leading breeders that has contributed to that success.
“There’s a very big funnel with the numbers we’re working with on the front end to achieve all the commercial characteris- tics we’re looking for in a good variety,” says Andy Higgins, chief executive. “We might do hundreds of thousands of crosses a year evaluating 20,000 seedlings, and of those seedlings the first time we have an evaluation we may choose to keep 100, and when we get to year two of fruiting we may take that down to 50.”
He says the company’s leading sellers include Sweet Globe, Jack’s Salute, Sweet Celebration, Sweet Sapphire and Cotton Candy.
Bon of Divine Flavor says demand for Cotton Candy grapes has become “almost like a cult,” with incredible feedback from consumers through email, social media posts and phone calls.
“We keep growing on this variety and are planting it in different areas,” says Bon. “By 2020 we will have Cotton Candy in the market for 10 months of the year, and three of those with organic Cotton Candy.”
BUILD CONSUMER INTEREST
Higgins says the trick to varietal develop- ment is working backward, starting first with consumer interest, and then on grower-ori- ented aspects like disease-resistance, labor saving and yields.
“We’ve got very creative retailers that are saying new varieties play a significant role in
Mann Packing’s Caulilini SweetStem Cauliflower and Broccolini SweetStem Broccoli
PVM says its new Cosmic Crisp variety is achieving great taste attributes.
driving attention to the category,” he says. “Retailers might say ‘help us build a program where 15-20 percent of the offering is made up of new [varieties], and make it easy to merchandise, communicate and visualize for the consumer so that when they walk into the produce department they’re inspired and want more.’ ”
It is a similar story for apples. Kathryn Grandy, director of marketing and operations at Proprietary Variety Management (PVM) of Yakima, WA, says consumers are looking for sweeter apples with high levels of juice and a very strong crunch.
“Everything is moving to branded varieties, and right now there are about 37 branded varieties available,” says Grandy. “They’re not all going to make it — one of the reasons is they don’t have sufficient volume to be in the market for more than a few weeks, and the other is the amount of marketing support.”
She adds the sweet spot for a new apple variety, and for PVM’s Cosmic Crisp brand, is achieving great taste attributes as well as
making production more viable.
“With Honeycrisp, people love the name
and the flavor. It’s not necessarily the most beautiful apple, and it’s very difficult to store,” she says. “With Cosmic Crisp, it’s been researched for 20 years, and it has the flavor, the shape, the color and the juice, but it also appears to be much more grow- er-friendly with much higher pack-outs, and it’s an apple that stores extremely well.”
Both PVM and IFG breed cherry varieties, as well, which have even longer lag times than apples and grapes. A common theme is the search for earlier and later cherries so the sales cycle can be extended, while improving eating characteristics of cultivars grown in those periods, as well.
“We think there is room to improve the eating experience so directionally where we’re going with that is increasing the texture, the mouthfeel as well as increasing sugars,” says Higgins of IFG. “We’ve got test varieties that have 50% more average brix levels than what traditional cherry varieties look like.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MANN PACKING
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