Producing what on paper looks like the next big fruit variety is one thing; building public awareness to the point where consumers actively seek it out is quite another.

Cameo has been making its way along that path for some time, and producers of the club variety are now ready to take it to the next level in shoppers’ consciousness. Key to further increasing production is getting more growers on board, and there has been some progress on that front with Clive Goatham and Tony Redsell both set to begin planting in the autumn.

Another vital strand is the continued development of the apple itself, with the original clone already having been superceded by Cauflight, which is described as having better colour while still retaining the same striped appearance, sweet flavour and juice content. Crucially, it also stores better than other incarnations.

However that doesn’t mean there isn’t better to come, according to Cameo UK marketing consultant Adrian Barlow. “Cauflight is not the absolute ultimate,” he stresses. “You can never get to the point where you can’t improve.”

This year a Cameo crop of some 1,600 tonnes was grown in Britain and sold to Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, The Co-operative, Asda and Budgens, and Barlow predicts production could soon exceed 2,000t. The total European crop is approaching 9,000t.

As with other crops, growers suffered weather damage early in the season, with hail affecting one producer’s fruit and some scab reported, but the overall tonnage was still 50t higher than last year, Barlow says. Consequently prices are up around 10-15 per cent on last season.

Barlow believes there is an increasing opportunity for Cameo to cement its place in shoppers’ baskets, particularly with growing interest in locally produced fruit. From a marketing point of view the Cameo Club has revamped its website and stepped up its social media activity, with samples sent to food writers and more recipe development taking place.

On a global basis there are trial orchards in an increasing number of European states, with a Czech organisation being the latest to become a member of the Cameo Club.

It all adds up to a rosy picture for the up-and-coming variety, but growers know that to really establish Cameo it will take many more years of work and promotion to put it firmly into the mainstream.—

FROM THE US TO THE UK

Cameo was discovered in the early 1980s in Washington State, USA. It is thought to be a cross between Golden and Red Delicious.