Kissabel®, Good Northern Hemisphere Crop

[The following republished text was provided by a third-party and does not necessarily reflect Produce Report’s views.]

With excellent quality in the leading countries and exciting prospects from first marketing tests, the 2018/2019 harvest of Kissabel^® apples in France, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy and US concluded between October and November.

IFORED’s partners in the Northern Hemisphere continue to develop coloured flesh varieties, from pink to intense red, capable of winning over consumers right across the world. In October the new brand Kissabel^® also debuted at Fruit Attraction - Madrid, one of the leading shows in the fruit and vegetable sector. At the dedicated stand visitors were able to admire the innovative appearance and discover the unexpected flavours of the Kissabel^® varieties.

Good news from Europe and USA

The harvest in Germany has been great, according to Dirk Zabel, Head of Variety Innovation at Deutsches Obstsorten Konsortium.

“We were very pleased by the excellent quality of this year, especially for the Kissabel^® Red, which was really good both in color and taste – Zabel reports – The first tests with German retailer Edeka gave very good feedback and we have very high expectations for all the Kissabel^® varieties, as we are going to plant more trees in the following years”.

The harvest in United Kingdom has been very positive as well.

“The current UK focus is on Kissabel^® Yellow and Orange, as the climate is ideal for the production of these apples with good inner colour – Robert Jarvis, Greenyard Fresh, says – Harvested first, Kissabel^® Orange will be marketed as an Autumn or pre Christmas product. With both an excellent eating quality and high storage potential, Kissabel^® Yellow will fulfil the sales period of Christmas and the New Year”. The Kissabel^® crop has been received very positively and marketed in the 2018 season to a range of UK retailers such as Tesco, M&S, Waitrose, Coop and Aldi.

Production is increasing in France too. “We didn’t get a commercial production yet, but we got good feedback from trials and visits during the harvest 2018 – Frederic Aubert, technical manager Blue Whale, reports – 2019 will be our first season with a production of about 200 tons and it will allow us to really start commercial test of Kissabel^® in France”.

Switzerland too is making progress on Kissabel^® growing.

“The crop has been good, especially for Kissabel^® Yellow, which has very good quality fruits. The Kissabel^® Orange is also nice, with an homogeneous flesh coloration – Jeanne Giesser, Fenaco Leman Fruits, says - We have a good, attractive product, well received by the customers, the technichal work in the following years will make it even more interesting for clients and consumers”.

“In Italy we had a good harvest of the Kissabel^® Red, both in term of quality and yield – Luca Lovatti, Novamela – we are still gaining experience in terms on agronomy and storability. We want to deliver to our consumer the best experience in term of color in combination with texture and taste”.

“Right now, we are focusing on Kissabel^® Red – Josep Maria Benet, Technical Director at Nufri (Spain) reports - We are making trials on different altitudes and climate conditions to find the best growing area in order to offer to the market the suprising red inside apple they are waiting for”.

Also the United States picked Kissabel varieties this Fall. “We continue to refine the needed horticulture for red fleshed varieties. We have made some exciting discoveries that have improved how Kissabel^® varieties respond in our climate – Dale Goldy, Best Practices Committee Chairman, NBT Coop, says – We will begin commercial plantings sometime around 2021 so we will have the first Kissabel^® fruit on the market in 2023 or so”.