Univeg Katopé UK Ltd has announced that it has signed an exclusive marketing license with the Associated International Group of Nurseries (AIGN) giving Univeg marketing rights for the cherry/plum hybrid known as Nadia in the EU and Turkey.
Originally bred in Australia, the fruit delivers the size and keeping qualities of a small plum with the internal colour and juice flow of a dark cherry, and offers both cherry and plum flavours, Univeg Katopé explained.
'We are very pleased to make this announcement and look forward to bringing this new fruit to consumers in the near future,' said the group's Richard Isaacs. 'We have had numerous discussions internally and with our customers – is it a giant cherry or is it a small plum? The jury may be out on that question, but one thing everyone certainly agrees on is that it is a fantastic tasting fruit, and quite unlike anything else currently available.
'Some other cherry/plum hybrids we’ve seen in the past have had very pale flesh and no cherry flavour at all, but Nadia definitely delivers on appearance & taste,' he added. 'When we showed the fruit to UK retailers recently the feedback was very positive indeed, and that is what really persuaded us to go ahead with this project.'
Nadia is also reported to have extremely high levels of antioxidants, far beyond standard cherries and plums, and has also performed very well in long-term storage tests.
Univeg will have exclusive access to commercial volumes of Nadia from established orchards in Australia and the fruit will be available in UK stores in January 2014. The company has also established test plots with some of its strategic cherry growers in various locations across Europe and in the UK.
A deal has also been signed between Univeg and AIGN to include Nadia in the East Malling cherry breeding programme that is supported by Univeg Katopé UK Ltd.
'We are confident that Nadia will hit the right notes with consumers looking for something really special in the stone fruit category, but we also hope it may be the parent or grandparent of a new generation of cherry-plums with even more stunning flavour and appearance,' Isaacs concluded. 'A family of top quality cherry-plums bursting with juice and flavour is our ultimate aim, to give our retail customers long seasons of supply from northern and southern hemisphere sources.'
