Special New Fruit Licensing Ltd (SNFL), the fruit licensing company behind the trademarked grape variety Absolutely Pink, is hoping to bring a range of key new grape varieties to market within the next two to three years.
SNFL manages the variety development programmes for Antonio Muñoz, along with several major grape and citrus producers supplying to the UK market through Antonio Muñoz subsidiary Muñoz Mehadrin UK (MMUK).
Talking to FPJ at Fruit Logistica, SNFL md Duncan Macintyre said the company is developing several new varieties as part of breeding programmes in California and Israel, which are generating a lot of interest “A lot of growers are hungry for new varieties,” he said. “They are becoming one of the key driving forces in developing business and the customers are hungry for newness and innovation.”
SNFL breeders have been collecting parents from around the world for the last 20 years. The company is now focusing on 20 key varieties, including a succession of white grapes from early to very late to cover any possible eventuality. “Very late white is key part of the market; we’ve got a good late red but no good late whites, but we’ve got two late white varieties, which come in right at the end of the season. So for a South African grower who’s selling us only red grapes at this time of the year, he can carry on with white so we don’t have to go to Chile,” he said.
The company is also working on a new red variety with stronger stems, bigger, more even fruit size, and better colouring than Red Flame.
“After many years of working away in the background, [SNFL] is now at the stage where we are looking at nurseries, creating budwood and talking to our growers about planting programmes and so on. Therefore within two-three years, these varieties will be coming into the marketplace,” he said.
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