The Pomanjou group has developed plans to increase its programme of Honeycrunch apples in Europe.

Throughout the winter the group will put plans into action for the external development of the variety, with the onus on sharing success and minimising risks.

After three years production in France, the Loire Valley region will increase its capacity. In addition to the Pomanjou programme, an objective of 100 hectares has been fixed for the next five years with the first plantings this winter. In France's southwest region 50 hectares will be developed in the next five years, the same figure is predicted in the Altes Land region of Germany, within the same time frame.

In South Africa a partnership deal has been reached with the Dutoit Vrutge group to ensure the planting of 140 hectares in the next six years in order to extend the sales of Honeycrunch to the summer months.

Created in 1960 the Pomanjou group sells a consolidated tonnage of 102,500t and has gained EurepGAP certification for its production and BRC certification for its packing and pre-packing.

The Honeycrunch variety originated from the crossbreeding of Honey Gold and Macun in the University of Minnesota in 1962 and was introduced in the Angers region of France in 1974. The fruiting age comes quickly, and productivity is high.

Gilles de Puineuf, president director general of the group said: “Honeycrunch is a very refreshing and crunchy apple and is ideally consumed between October and May. Two years ago we grew 700t of Honeycrunch, last year this figure was 1,200t and next year we are aiming for 2,000t. This is still only five per cent of our apple crop, but we believe the variety has a great future and we are predicting 20,000t by 2011.”