Extra-low acidity and strong post-harvest credentials are being targeted by Kent and Spain-based varietal developer Newstairs as it looks toposition itself as “the place to go” for flavoursome, grower-friendly stonefruit varieties.
The company’s October tour of Spanish stonefruit events will draw to a close at Fruit Attraction next week, with the Newstairs team attending several in the past few weeks.
Xtrema Fruit in Don Benito, Spain’s first national stonefruit forum, was followed by IRTA in the Catalonian city of Mollerrusa. The latter was attended by new team member Lluis Ortega Ricart to help him get an understanding of the industry.
Meanwhile, Newstairs reported that it has been collecting buds at its Extremadura Experimental Orchard so it can graft its varieties and test them in different parts of Europe to collect climatic and regional data.
The company said it was focused on adding new attributes to its varieties, such as extra-low acidity, without jeopardising the fruit’s shelf life.
“Newstairs continues to evaluate and bring to market dependable varieties that combine tremendous flavour with unbeatable post-harvest credentials,” said Newstairs director Dr Tom Rogers.
At Fruit Attraction, which takes place in Madrid on 23-25 October, the Newstairs team will be meeting its Spanish grower base and others.
Sharing a stand with sister company Soloberry in Hall 10, stand C01, the breeder will be sharing news on its latest breeding activity, with new varieties set to come to market “very soon”.
Pablo Garcia, project manager for Newstairs in Spain, said: “Our aim is to streamline the supply chain and bring the latest, greatest and most consistent varieties of stone fruit and berries to our growers’ orchards and our customers’ shelves.”
Newstairs works with specific plant breeders from around the world, using wholly natural methods of cross-pollination to develop a range of peaches and nectarines for growers in Europeand North Africa.
