Five South African exporters have set up a partnership to promote and export Kiku apples.
Dutoit Group, Fruitways, Colors Fruit SA, Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing and Capespan are all working to the same Kiku brand quality system, to ensure that only fruit that conforms to the specific quality standards set for the brand is marketed.
Peter Allderman, top-fruit manager for TopFruit, the intellectual property and cultivar management company that holds the licence for Kiku in South Africa, said: “Kiku has adapted well to growing conditions in South Africa and is the Fuji apple of choice - most of all local Fuji plantings are Kiku. This apple promises to deliver good returns and there are already more than of 100 hectares of trees growing. The Ceres/Koue Bokkeveld growing area and certain parts of the Elgin Valley are good Kiku production areas.”
Kiku enjoys good colour development, a characteristic that is particularly significant for South African apple production as although the country’s warm climate is good for producing sweet apples, they do not always colour up well.
Thomas Mouton, top-fruit manager at Colors Fruit SA, said: “Although it is still some time before large volumes of this apple will be available for export, we are excited by its promise of superior quality. Kiku delivers [high] quality fruit, which combines good sugars with optimal colouring… There has been a small harvest from the Kiku orchards this year and next year we are expecting the first harvest to produce commercial volumes for export.”
Chris Moodie, marketing manager at Fruitways, said: “Producing apples with good colour is always a challenge in our climate and this is why Kiku is proving so popular with growers.”
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