AU Piqa Boo pear plantations Ardmona

The world’s first commercial plantations of Piqa Boo pears have gone into the ground at Varapodio & Sons’ Oakmoor Orchards in Ardmona, Australia.

Around 7,000 trees were planted at the orchard, with another 23,000 to be planted in the surrounding Goulburn Valley area and Freshmax Australia looking to expand that to more than 200,000 trees in the coming three to four years.

Bred by Plant & Food New Zealand and licensed to Freshmax Australia by Prevar, the Piqa Boo pear combines European, Japanese and Chinese pear characteristics.

“Piqa Boo offers the category a chance of new life and opportunity against the increasing competition,” said Andrew Maughan, Freshmax IP and commercialisation manager, in a company statement. “Piqa Boo is so different from anything in the market, we are so excited to get this journey rolling … We expect to see commercial volumes start to come through in 2018, and there is plenty to be getting on with between now and then.”

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