BerryWorld, one of the UK’s foremost soft fruit marketers, has this week announced the availability of a new, exclusive strawberry variety, Viva Patricia, which will be available from January through to May.
Viva Patricia is the first variety from the Edward Vinson Breeding Programme to be bred in Spain, specifically for the UK market, BerryWorld said in a press statement.
The marketer said the new variety was an attractive berry, orange red in colour and sweet in taste, which boasted good skin firmness and shelf life, while not being overly firm in texture.
The first fruit arrived in the UK in February, due to the late start to the Spanish season this year, as a result of the poor weather in January. Volumes are now picking up, and in total BerryWorld said that it expected to market around 200 tonnes this year.
BerryWorld said that Viva Patricia, which was trialled last year, has so far received “very positive” customer feedback, claiming that the variety eats well and has a better shelf life than Sabrosa.
Berryworld’s technical director Tim Newton said: “We now need to gain production experience to get the very best from the variety. We will assess its performance on a commercial scale against other varieties available at the same time.”
Mr Newton said the extent to which Viva Patricia replaces Sabrosa over the coming years will depend on the variety’s performance this season.
But he added: “Viva has had higher sugar levels than Sabrosa, which is delivering a good eating experience. It also looks as if it will produce more fruit in the next month than Sabrosa planted in the same field, which is positive when Sabrosa is struggling to keep up with demand.”
The new berry has been named after the daughter of Vicente Domingo who is the manager of Peter Vinson’s breeding site in Spain.
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