Company previews commercial launch of Kandy, a new early-harvesting variety that ripens four to six weeks ahead of Hayward
Italian supplier Salvi Unacoa has revealed it plans to expand production of a new, early-harvesting green variety of kiwifruit and market the product under the name Kandy.
The company’s chairman and chief executive officer Marco Salvi, who announced the news at Fruit Attraction in Madrid, confirmed its intention initially to target around 300ha of production around Latina in Lazio.
As he explained, the variety was first identified by a grower in the area and offers a chance to bring a high-quality product to market much earlier than the Hayward, the most widely grown, commercially traded green kiwifruit in both Italy and the world.
“It’s particularly noteworthy for its early ripening,” he commented. “Harvest occurs four to six weeks earlier than the Hayward variety. This allows us to offer Italian kiwifruit to the market before the Hayward variety has even been harvested.”
But for Salvi, the most important aspect is the fruit’s quality. “Kandy is very sweet, pleasant to eat, ripens evenly, and shows no problems with internal column hardening,” he continued. “Furthermore, it stores well and has a particularly high dry matter content and sugar content.”
Trials are underway with a number of customers, and have apparently yielded “very encouraging” results already, giving the group confidence in the variety’s commercial prospects.
“We have already started new plantings in Italy,” Salvi added. “We are initially aiming to reach 300ha of cultivated land, and then gradually expand the area.
“We want to offer Italian producers a significant opportunity and an alternative to the new varieties recently introduced to the market.”
