The new crop will be harvested in the Northern Hemisphere from mid September. USA partner Stemilt Growers is ready for the first full sales season.
ANGERS – Kissabel®, the innovative range of apples with coloured flesh – from pink to intense red – has arrived in North America. These apples with the amazing appearance and wonderful flavour are grown by Stemilt Growers, the United States partner of the IFORED programme for production of the Kissabel® range.
Harvesting in Washington State began from the second half of September with the Jaune variety, characterised by its yellow skin, pink flesh and a delicious, well-balanced flavour. In the following weeks it was the turn of Kissabel® Rouge, with red flesh and skin: a variety intense in both colour and flavour, with surprising berry-like notes.
“We began sales last year with small volumes of the Jaune variety,” comments Brianna Shales, Marketing Director of Stemilt Growers. “This season we’ll have an increased supply and we’ll be offering the market Kissabel® Rouge for the first time. The campaign will start in October and we’re expecting stocks to run out fast: the fruits’ quality is high and this product has attracted a great deal of curiosity.”
The sales season will be the opportunity to introduce the brand to United States consumers, with marketing initiatives scheduled in partnership with retailers.
The Kissabel® harvest has also begun in the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, with a 40% increase in British and European production. The Kissabel® partners harvesting the crop are WorldwideFruit (UK), Mesfruits, Gerfruits and Blue Whale (France), Melinda, Rivoira and VIP (Italy), the Red Apple Germany consortium and Fenaco (Switzerland).
Fruit Attraction. The expansion in crop size is accompanied by a stronger presence at Fruit Attraction, the international fruit and vegetable show to be held from 3 to 5 October in Madrid (Hall 8, stand E13A). The stand will be larger and more attractive, with special interactive sessions for visitors. As well as the new-season Kissabel® apples, there will also be samplings of the juices produced by a number of project partners.
Kissabel® apple juices. Fruit juices made entirely or partly from Kissabel® apples are already available in Italy, Germany and France. Each authorised partner offers the market a different blend of coloured-flesh and traditional varieties, to provide a diversified product tailored to the various countries’ tastes. The project will enable use of fruit not suitable for sale as table apples and thus help to reduce food waste.
“Kissabel® is growing thanks to the partners’ planning and their commitment to producing the best possible apples,” comments Emmanuel de Lapparent, manager of the IFORED programme. “Kissabel® is an extremely innovative range and has succeeded in surprising consumers with its appearance and flavour. The juice we are presenting in Madrid this year will enable us to grow the red-flesh apple segment and the Kissabel® brand further, with new opportunities for consumption even when the apples themselves are not available.”
Kissabel® is the brand that identifies the different varieties of coloured-flesh apple – from pink to intense red – developed with the aid of exclusively natural breeding techniques by the IFORED programme, an international partnership involving 14 of the world’s largest production and marketing companies.
