An international soft-fruit breeding programme, designed to discover the next generation of the tastiest varieties which could ultimately lead to changes in traditional seasonal patterns has been announced by AFI Redbridge with Israeli specialists GIYO.

A new company, ReDeva, under the chairmanship of Douglas Kemp has bought the Israeli strawberry breeding rights which dovetails into ongoing work in the UK on raspberries and blackberries.

Within this framework there will be three trial nurseries in Egypt, Spain and England, chosen to reflect the range of European and Mediterranean climatic zones where soft fruit is grown for AFI. A key aspect is that the Israel programme already contains varieties that can fruit for up to 10 months of the year.

AFI Redbridge, backed by its parent company Redbridge Holdings, has made a 'substantial' undisclosed investment in a deal that has been hammered out over 18 months by Kemp 18 months.

The board also includes Eytan Israel, GIYO chairman, and the new managing director is Ronnie McNichol, previously head of the Scottish Crops Research Institute. Eva Izask, an Israeli breeder and technical officer is retained to provide advice over a 5-year phased programme.

'We are bringing together three of the world's most successful fruit breeders into one team, including Derek Jennings of Medway Fruits, who is internationally renowned for his work on raspberries and blackberries,' said Kemp. Expecting to see the first results coming through next year, he predicts: 'This will lead to new, outstanding berry varieties for UK retailers and consumers.' The ReDeva offices will be in Dundee, and Tayside will be the test bed for developing summer and autumn fruiting raspberries, while annually between 5,000 to 8,000 strawberry seeds selected in Israel will be sent to Premium Plant Producers, run by Peter Overoyd near Hull for growing-on.

The selection process reduces these down to around 25, from which the best are chosen based on taste, appearance and the ability to thrive in a particular European production area. 'Different latitudes have different requirements,' explained Kemp.

While AFI growers across the UK, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Morocco and Egypt will have exclusivity on potential fruit, the views of retailers are being sought and seen as a valuable part of the selection process.

Kemp believes that soft fruit production cannot afford to stand still at a time when costs are coming under ever-increasing pressure, although somewhat ironically there is a huge demand for excellent quality fruit.

'Marketing of strawberries and raspberries has changed. The major retailers now represent over 80 per cent of sales and they are becoming ever more focused, Kemp said.' Denis Punter, chief executive of Redbridge Holdings Ltd says: 'We believe that for a business to remain strong and vibrant it must produce and supply what its customers want and to do this it must invest in r&d.

'For far too long, British companies have only invested a fraction of what our American counterparts invest. Plant breeding is a long-term process and we have a major commitment to investing in it for the good of our retail customers, and their customers. Naturally it makes good commercial sense for our own business.

'Suppliers will be those who are able to invest in product research and development leading to improved customer service,' Punter said.

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