TopFruit acknowledges the importance in intellectual property rights of brands and varieties. They has for more than 40 years worked to aid in the creation and protection of intellectual property. The company’s focus is to unlock the full potential of every fruit that they sell in their Southern African market and beyond. TopFruit showcases new varieties of fruit created by breeders from all over the world in addition to managing local found changes.

The company is extremely enthusiastic about the next amazing varieties and programs coming from the Pome Fruit, Table Grape and Berry unit, and believes that they will have great growth potential for growers.

Berry Unit

Within the Berry unit Three breeding programs are notable.

The IQ Berries breeding program in Australia has a wide range of fresh, exciting and extremely low-chill blueberry varieties. The berries mature between March in Zimbabwe and in June in Limpopo. They also perform well in subtropical zones and are a great fruit which are crisp and fresh for an and delicious eating experience.

The University of Georgia, USA breeding program includes low-to-mid-chill highbush variety that is southern in its range. The tested varieties like Sweet Duchess & Maverick are famous for their late ripening, outstanding food quality, and excellent production of fruits.

TopFruit also holds access to the middle to high chill variety of rabbiteye types that are part of the New Zealand breeding program, New Zealand Plant and Food Research These late-flowering and later season ripening blueberry varieties are perfect for regions with cold temperatures in which the chance of frost could be reduced. Rabbiteyes that flower late in October , and produce fruit throughout the South African Western Cape province beginning in January until March.

Pome Fruit Unit

Within the Pome Fruit Business Unit, the outstanding varieties listed below create a buzz of excitement.

PremA093/Sassy(tm) was among the varieties of apples which stood out in the testing blocks for evaluation last year and this year’s harvest is unlike anything else. PremA093 provides excellent eating qualities and is a deep red hue. It is crisp and firm to bite but also pleasant and soft to taste. When mature it is full-block red with a beautiful light yellow background. It is distinguished by its conical form.

The TP 15-41/Eden Gold(tm) pear variety comes with very low chill requirements and is well-known for its delicious eating pleasure and crisp and juicy taste, as well as a sweet and a subtle acidic flavor. The texture is crisp and is the same throughout all stages of storage including market shelf. This is due to its distinct flavor that helps it different from other varieties that are early in the season.

Inored is very appealing bright, red-colored apple that offers an incredibly sweet and subtle flavor. The beautiful fruit is extremely robust, is not prone to bruise easily and is stored easily. Apart from having excellent packing-outs This apple is a winner in everything! TopFruit believes Inored is a great choice. Inored is a great choice to African markets, where the color red as well as the robustness of apples is crucial.

Bingo Gala is an exciting , blushed cherry red stable Gala apple strain which was found within Grabouw, South Africa. This variety has a very large bin-pack-out, that has the average class 1 exportable pack-out that is greater than 85% and greater than the 80% of red-colored surface space. It is a production-friendly variety. The color of Bingo Gala develops with age, so it’s easy to manage with a the two-pick method.

Bingo Gala is seen as one of the top selling events within Asia because of the bright color. This gala offers the chance in the market for South African producers to be more competitive on Asian markets by having a more color gala.

Table Grape Unit

Table Grape’s Table Grape unit has a ongoing partnership and Grapa Varieties Ltd and manage their famed ARRA(tm) breeding programme across Southern Africa. Its ARRA(tm) variety is developed and sold in more than 30 countries. This enables the availability of their varieties throughout the year. Its ARRA(tm) breeding program presents the latest generation of young varieties that have a dazzling flavor. The varieties are drought-tolerant as well as the ability to grow in different situations (including extreme conditions) in addition to the unbeatable ability to eat early.

The position of TopFruit currently on the market in South Africa and Namibia is exceptionally strong and their varieties are growing in popularity. Some varieties to keep an eye for include:

— ARRA Sweeties(tm) (ARRA 15) is well-known due to one of its most notable characteristics which is that it can earn excellent returns in adverse conditions, such as recently. Risk management is an essential element of growing table grapes. This kind of grape has proved that time and again.

The ARRA Passion Fire(tm) (ARRA 29) is a variety that has recently was extensively planted because of the time it takes to harvest as well as its easy production. As a seedless, early red cultivar that has stood up to over time with regards to its testing, this particular cultivar has experienced a massive growth in plantations. Farmers now reap the benefits of this variety’s superior production and quality, aswell being profitable, as evident recently and endorsed by a number of exporters.

The ARRA Honey Pop(tm) (ARRA 33) is a huge hit in the local growers. It is a great alternative for producers looking to find the best very early white variety that maximizes the efficiency of production. Due to its easy production , and minimal labor inputs the variety will undoubtedly certainty be an excellent choice for the coming years.

The outlook for the ARRA(tm) program for South Africa and Namibia is fascinating, and the cultivars offer the opportunity to be noticed from the crowd while overcoming the difficulties that can arise every year. TopFruit continually refines its offerings in order in order to better accommodate the local producers of table grapes.

More information is available here:

Herschelle Mentoor

TopFruit

Tel: +27 21874 1033

Email: herschellem@topfruit.co.za

www.topfruit.co.za