Demand for organic apple varieties that offer higher resistance to scab and mildew than many of those already available has prompted Waitrose and Fruition, the retailer’s top-fruit category manager, to seek new alternatives.
The research will be carried out at Nichol Farm, where organic land for 1,300 trees is available. The first 800 will be planted this spring, consisting largely of varieties new to the UK.
The concept orchard is owned by Nicolas Moor, who is one of 22 producers in Waitrose’s English grower group.
“Several varieties already look promising,” said Claire Donovan, technical controller at Worldwide Fruit, through which Fruition operates. “Apart from resistance, other key aspects we are looking out for include shelf life, storage ability, taste and, of course, grower profitability.”
The first batch includes 100 trees of Pinova (also known as Sonata and Corail), a German cross between Golden Delicious and Civia. Some trees of Red Pinova, also known as Evelina, will be planted as well.
Two newcomers are expected to prove particularly interesting to growers. Juliet is a sweet, French apple from Benoît Escande, with a high brix reading. And Zari was bred in Belgium and is a cross between Elstar and Delbarestival. Fruition already has exclusivity for Waitrose with Zari, and 50 trees of the variety will be planted at the orchard, for harvest at the end of August, after Delbarestival.
A further 200 trees of Dalinbel, another medium- to large-sized fruit supplied by French nursery Davodeau Ligonnière, are being planted. Jonagold and Regal Prince have also been thrown in the varietal mix, and the Topaz variety will be added to the orchard in 2008.
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