The Goldrush variety is being sold exclusively by Waitrose, at £2.49 for a tray-pack of four. The retailer is programmed to receive around 130 bins through Fruition.

Ally MacKay has been touring Europe and the US during the last month not just to see the results at first hand, but develop the opportunity of growing the fruit in Europe and Washington State on a similar controlled basis.

Goldrush was discovered in the south west Western Australia only 10 years ago, by growers Mike and Neville Titchbon. A natural hybrid, the ochre coloured skin and crisp white flesh led them to believe its main scions were Packhams Triumph and Beurre Bosc.

However, there the similarities end. The fruit, unlike other pears, ripens from the outside in, and has a markedly higher brix level as it matures but stays crisp. It benefits from refrigeration right up to the point of consumption.

MacKay said: 'It is completely different to any other pear, which consumers tend to eat when they are softer. It is exceptionally high in dietary fibre and I have personally measured soluble sugars at a brix (sugar/acid) reading of 22-23 this season which is quite amazing.' The variety is already closely protected by a network of legal agreements, drafted by GPG's 20 members. This, in effect, controls production and development and restriction to the specific desert area where it was found. There are tight grading standards and disciplines, which extend to taking into account shipment requirements.

To date, some 46,000 trees have been planted, that will produce around 45,000 carton equivalents. That volume will double up as the orchards mature.

While Waitrose is the first supermarket in Europe to sell the fruit, MacKay is working towards having similar arrangements in other countries and to develop similarly licensed production areas. He has already identified the Badajoz region, in Spain, as being suitable, and has been in discussion with French grower/exporters Nectafruits and nursery propagators Starfruit.

Mackay is also responsible for licensing through his own company TEAK, adopting a different approach by franchising distributors, who then sub license for an exact number of registered trees on specific sites for their associated growers.

'The whole concept is market driven,' he said. 'In the past, growers who are the first to successfully develop a new variety make money until volumes rise. Then the pain sets in and quality falls.' TEAK also expects to develop other Australian fruit along similar lines, and has already trade marked a white peach variety, which Mackay has called Donut because of its flattened shape.

Similar peaches known generically as saturn types have been on sale in the US for several years.

In the pipeline there is also a plum called Amber Jewell and a cherry that will be available in December.

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