Strawberry

UK soft fruit breeder East Malling Research (EMR) has officially launched two new varieties of strawberry, which it believes will be suitable for low cost production.

The varieties, Fenella and Lucy, can be produced without using plastic tunnels and, according to the breeder, have so far received positive responses from growers and retailers.

EMR strawberry breeder Dr David Simpson said the company had particularly high hopes for Fenella, which he explained had strong disease resistance and was being viewed as an alternative to older variety Florence.

The company has also recently begun test marketing Lucy, a large fruited variety, which Dr Simpson says has so far received “positive feedback” from grocery retailers.

However, it is evident that EMR views Fenella as being particularly promising, as the company’s strawberry breeder says the variety boasts a better flavour than Lucy.

“I’ve heard people referring to Fenella as having an ‘old-fashioned’ flavour, meaning that it tastes as they remember strawberries tasting when they were young,” says Dr Simpson.

Aside from strawberries, EMR has also recently launched Autumn Treasure, a new raspberry variety that the company believes has strong commercial potential.

According to EMR’s raspberry specialist, Felicidad Fernández, although the variety has good colour, flavour and disease resistance, its principal advantage is that it can be produced during a seasonal niche.

“It’s autumn fruiting and can be produced in between the main UK raspberry crop and late varieties,” she says. “It fits in nicely at a time when there is not much UK production of raspberries.”