Fresas Nuevos Materiales (FNM) has high hopes for its new strawberry variety, due to be launched in 2017.
Describing the results of the first commercial trials as “excellent”, the company’s Mario Loi says the early variety has exceeded expectations on taste, yield, quality and shelf-life.
“We’re all set for the official launch next year,” he tells Fruitnet. “As well as introducing Rociera at major international trade shows, we’ll be sending samples to importers and retailers, supported by leaflets highlighting the characteristics of the variety, and are also planning training days and technical visits to producers who are interested in growing the variety.”
FNM was founded in 1999 by the producers in Huelva to develop unique varieties for the province and reduce the sector’s reliance on foreign-owned varieties. Its most successful product to date has been Primoris, an early season strawberry currently battling for dominance of Huelva’s early production window.
According to Loi, Primoris put in a solid performance this year. “The warmer temperatures brought harvesting forward and meant that growers were able to obtain at least two distinct crops, depending on when they decided to plant,” he says.
An estimated 96m Primoris plants were planted throughout Huelva this year, and the company is confident that this will increase in the coming season.
The company’s goal for 2017 is for production of its varieties to go on expanding at a sustainable pace in Spain in order to help Spanish producers compete on international markets, not just in the off season but also when there is local production.
