Italian kiwifruit marketer Jingold has signed a licensing deal with Verona-based producer Bovo Angelo di Giuseppe e Fratelli to grow and supply Boerica, a new green-fleshed variety said to be bigger and brighter than Hayward with a more elongated shape.
“The agreement is aimed at improving the management of this variety along the whole production chain and contributing to its improved development,” said Bovo Angelo’s Valentino Bovo.
Alessandro Fornari, director of Jingold, commented: “We believe the Boerica variety has huge potential and this operation will be incorporated into a kiwifruit category management project that Jingold is taking forward in its main international markets, to which the company is able to offer the entire range of kiwifruit with excellent organoleptic characteristics for 12 months of the year.”
Alongside Boerica, yellow-fleshed Jintao and Hayward, three other new varities recently acquired by the group have been added: Jinyen (yellow flesh), Z5Z6 (green flesh) and Oriental Red (red flesh).
Jingold president Patrizio Neri welcomed the new arrival: “Our organisation has a proven track record of managing new patented varieties of kiwifruit and we are excited about applying [that experience] to a new variety, Boerica, that represents a great marketing opportunity for Italian kiwifruit production.”
According to the organisation, Boerica kiwifruit is distinguishable from Hayward by its “brilliant and very intense” green flesh, a more elongated shape, and bigger size and weight.
During tests conducted over the past few years at the University of Bologna, the average weight of Boerica harvested at the same time as Hayward was reportedly around 130g, while dry matter content was more than 17 per cent and sugar levels constantly above 6.5° Brix.
Storage trials are also said to have yielded positive results, raising the prospect that Boerica is well suited to shipment overseas to markets in which Jingold-branded fruit has been performing well in the past few years.
“The Boerica variety has achieved a good spread across the country and a lot of producers have been able to appreciate its distinctive characteristics,” concluded Bovo. “With this collaboration we are aiming to start a project that adds real value, obviously focusing on decidedly better recognition for the fruit among clients and consumers by combining Boerica with the Jingold brand.”
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