Zespri last week celebrated the European launch of its new SunGold variety, which is showing good tolerance to the vine disease currently affecting production of Zespri Gold.
Celebrations took place aboard the Atlantic Klipper on its arrival at the port in Zeebrugge carrying the first European consignment of SunGold.
Zespri marketing manager Carol Ward told Fruitnet.com she was excited by the variety's characteristics. “It’s a very juicy variety with a sweet taste and a hint of tang. We’re really excited about the opportunities it presents to us and we’re pleased to have a variety in our portfolio that growers can grow through Psa.”
The current Gold variety, known as Hort16a, has proven highly susceptible to the bacterial vine disease Psa, which was first discovered in New Zealand in late 2010.
SunGold, or G3 as it has been referred to previously, has shown good resistance to the disease, and Zespri sees it as a replacement for Hort16a.
The marketer has introduced the SunGold brand to differentiate the varieties, explained Ward. “They are both Zespri gold varieties and both fit into the gold category but we recognise that they are slightly different. So we need to be able to differentiate that to our retail customers and consumers.”
Besides a slightly different taste profile SunGold lacks Zespri Gold’s distinctive ‘beak’.
The coming years will see a period of transition as growers in New Zealand replace Hort16a vines with G3, said Ward. “We have a long term strategic plan to move away from growing Hort16a and this will increase as we gain confidence in G3,” she said.“Not 100 per cent of growers have made the switch to G3 at this stage. There are areas in the country that have not been affected by Psa.”
There will be instances in the coming years where Gold and SunGold will share the same retail shelves, Ward said.
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