The James Hutton Institute's commercial subsidiary James Hutton Limited has signed a five-year blackcurrant breeding contract with the makers of the popular Ribena squash drink.
The deal with Lucozade Ribena Suntory (LRS)builds on a successful commercial relationship between Scottish fruit breeders and the makers of the iconic drink for the past 25 years.
Speaking at Fruit for the Future 2015 in Dundee, Dr Rex Brennan, leader of the Institute’s soft fruit breeding group said: “I’m delighted that LRS have trusted us again to breed blackcurrant varieties for their iconic drink.
'Because of the tools we have at our disposal we can deliver varieties aimed at definite sectors of the industry, that is fresh or processing, while taking into account other factors like environmental change.
“The James Hutton Institute and its predecessors have bred blackcurrants since the 1960s. All the varieties bred at the Institute are prefixed ‘Ben’, and there are currently 12 of them in commercial production.”
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