Late mandarin ClemenGold has added new zest to the South African soft citrus category as it performs well on international markets, despite challenging conditions.
The fruit is now available on UK supermarket shelves and is proving a hit with consumers, according to David Alba, Tesco citrus technical manager.
He said: “ClemenGold has fantastic appearance and eating quality. The consistency and virtually seedless flesh encourages consumers to repeat purchase this product. ClemenGold has provided the market with a variety upgrade to meet consumer expectations and it has an important place within our range, supporting quality objectives for our pillar brands. This season, ClemenGold has been part of our Select Variety strategy to delight customers.”
ClemenGold, a recent entry to the late mandarin offer, is the registered brand name for the fruit of the Nadorcott variety, which originated in Morocco from an open pollination crossing of a Murcott and a clementine. All fruit meeting the high standards must be packed under the Clemengold brand from South Africa, Argentine and Uruguay.
The brand is owned and managed by South African firm CitroGold (Pty) Ltd, and its controlled planting and marketing strategy is sustaining strong demand and good prices. During the past three years, late mandarin exports have risen by around 30 per cent and ClemenGold accounts for around 80 per cent of that volume.
ClemenGold is seedless, easy to peel, flattish in shape and has a thin, deep-orange skin. The fruit matures later than any other seedless mandarin, at a time when there are relatively few mandarins available - ensuring that it is well positioned in the marketplace.
The Nardocotts need to adhere to stringent quality standards in order to qualify under the ClemenGold brand. South Africa holds the rights to plant around 1,300 hectares, from which exporters are hoping to have a crop of around 65,000 tonnes by 2013.
Abraham Van Rooyen, spokesperson for ClemenGold and director of Indigo Fruit Farming, said: “The success of ClemenGold has been largely due to our ability to offer a superior product, coupled with responsible and sustainable planting and marketing.”
Indigo Farming is a black empowerment company that specialises in the production of ClemenGold fruit in the Limpopo Province, South Africa’s northernmost province. “Developing and branding a citrus fruit in this way involves considerable resources and time and we are truly grateful that in this case that our efforts are been rewarded,” said Van Rooyen. “CitroGold is planning to focus more resources into the enforcement of the quality standards to make sure no illegal fruit gets sold in the marketplace.”
Nardorcott was discovered by El Bachir Nadori, introduced to South Africa in 1995, and then released to growers in 1999. While the patent for ClemenGold belongs to CitroGold, the Nadorcott Protection Company retains ownership of the Nardorcott plant material.
Trees are high yielding, fruit is medium-sized and the average size of the fruit is 60-70mm diameter.
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