A new South African fruit business is consolidating ownership of an exclusive fruit cultivar breeding programme and a marketing initiative, which will give fruit growers in South Africa joint control over the management of their fruit marketing.
The company, re:inc innovation, has acquired the majority of the rights to the former Colors Fruit breeding programme, which started investing in new cultivars in 2003.
With Riaan van Wyk and Liezel Kriegler as directors, re:inc will also establish independent marketing companies for stonefruit, table grapes, apples and pears, citrus fruit and exotics in partnership with South African producers who will own 50 per cent of these companies. These growers will also have the exclusive rights to the planting of the cultivars that will emerge from the breeding programmes.
Van Wyk says the boutique fruit marketing companies will only charge their cost, to allow the maximum money to be returned back to growers.
“The name and trademark of the marketing companies will be developed along with the grower partners, and will be co-owned by them,” he explains.
“Breeding and evaluation of cultivars will be the main focus of our business and through the marketing companies, growers will have real ownership of the strategies and sales of their products,” he continues. “We are also establishing partnerships with international growers to plant these unique cultivars in other producing countries, which will extend the marketing seasons of these products.
“We have an innovative team of four breeders in our programme. They are Dr Iwan Labuschagne, who is responsible for Apple and Pear breeding, Gerrit Nieuwoudt, who is responsible for breeding grape varieties and Keith Wilson, Cherry and Exotic fruit breeder which includes such categories as pomegranates, figs and dragon fruit.
The fourth breeder is Reinhard Schomberg-Klee, coordinator of the re:inc breeding programme in Europe. He is based in Göttingen in Germany, and, according Van Wyk, plays an important role in integrating breeding activities in Europe with the South African programme.
“At the moment we have 30 new cultivars that are undergoing final testing for commercialisation and more than 40,000 seedlings that are under evaluation,' says Kriegler. 're:inc owns the international rights to most of the cultivars and will ensure that they are planted in all the major production countries to create 12 month supply to the top end retailers and high paying markets.”
“It is part of our strategy to appoint a limited number of international marketing companies that specialises in supplying top end customers to handle these cultivars,” outlines Van Wyk.
Regarding the partnership with growers in South Africa, he says re:inc is in discussions with leading medium-sized growers in the country who are passionate about farming and new cultivars, and who are keen to work together with like-minded growers.
“This is in order to establish truly breeder-producer-packer fruit marketing companies to supply the top end of the market,' he adds. 're:inc will provide the new cultivars, and the growers will grow them. Together the two groups will own the boutique fruit marketing companies as a platform for their new varieties.”
“It is exciting times for our partnership with South African and international growers and marketing companies, and definitely also for consumers who will have excess to these exclusive cultivars in the future,” he concludes.
