The southwest of France, famous for producing the Reine Claude plum, otherwise known as the greengage, is transforming, according to marketer Blue Whale, with the arrival of a host of new plum varieties.
The company has actively diversified its production, it said, and over half of its orchards are now made up of plums of a Japanese origin, with a focus on the sweet taste and firm crunch of the fruit.
However, Blue Whale's technicians are continuing to research new varieties and are currently experimenting with more than 180 different plum varieties.
However, such varieties are for the future, and the company's focus is currently on this season's weather-affected crop.
For the Sunkiss variety, Blue Whale said that it had experienced a good flowering period and also expects a good balance of sizes.
Meanwhile, for later flowering varieties like TC Sun and Ruby Crunch, the rain has reportedly affected the pollinisation of the flowers.
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