Consumers of fresh fruit around the globe are increasingly demanding excellent tasting, healthy fruit that is sustainably grown. ZESPRI® Kiwifruit delivers on these requirements, yet ZESPRI is not content to stand still.
As consumer needs mature and develop, ZESPRI must respond by delivering new kiwifruit varieties that will entice and excite the consumer, match their needs and surpass their expectations.
Extensive research has shown that consumers want quality kiwifruit to be available for longer each year, and to offer improved taste and health benefits. Consumers are also attracted to the novelty of a completely different kiwifruit that offers a new taste sensation or unique appearance. These factors are the key drivers of ZESPRI’s product development and new variety programme.
Developing a new kiwifruit variety is easy. But delivering high volumes of the world’s best kiwifruit variety to consumers around the globe takes hard work and dedication.
Mother Nature has provided the building blocks and ZESPRI’s world leading research and development team use natural plant breeding techniques to develop new flavours, new colours and longer harvest periods so that the best possible fruit is available to consumers all year round.
ZESPRI and Plant & Food Research have developed the world’s largest kiwifruit screening programme. Using the world’s best kiwifruit parents (ZESPRI® GREEN and GOLD Kiwifruit) and a strict quality control process, plant breeders select new varieties that become the target for future development.
Currently over 100,000 seedlings are under evaluation. These seedlings are rigorously screened and potential candidates are progressed into clonal trials and then pre-commercial block trials. This selection process may take many years before a potential new kiwifruit variety is deemed robust enough to meet strict quality control requirements.
In June 2010 ZESPRI announced the commercialisation of three new varieties of ZESPRI® Kiwifruit which will be available in selected markets from 2011:
- two GOLD varieties under the ZESPRI® SUNGOLD Kiwifruit brand which extend the seasonal availability of ZESPRI® GOLD Kiwifruit and
- the ZESPRI® SWEET GREEN Kiwifruit variety.
ZESPRI has also begun pre commercial grower block trials on two red coloured kiwifruit varieties and our extensive evaluation process means that ZESPRI will continue to develop new varieties.