Bakersfield, CA. – Sun World International, LLC is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Kankun™ mango variety from Diazteca, a strategic addition to its nascent mango breeding and licensing program and the first commercial Sun World mango variety available for license. The signing ceremony took place in San Diego, CA on June 6th, 2023, attended by David Marguleas, Chief Executive Officer of Sun World and Ismael Diaz, Director General of Diazteca.
“For nearly 40 years, Sun World has brought distinctive and flavorful grapes and stone fruit to leading fruit growers around the world,” Marguleas said. “Those growers and others will soon have access to the Kankun mango as the first of many new cultivar releases we plan to introduce to the global produce industry” he noted, adding “if you like Tommy Atkins, you’re going to love Kankun with its sweet tropical flavor, distinctive red blush, thin seed, low fiber content and early-ripening harvest advantage. The Kankun variety also maintains better quality through the required hot water treatment process.”
Diaz commented, “We are pleased to work with the Sun World team to license the unique Kankun variety. Their expertise and history of successful product commercialization will be invaluable.”
Diazteca is one of Mexico’s largest mango suppliers. Its research team developed the Kankun variety on its farms in Escuinapa, Sinaloa Mexico. After favorable results from testing the variety with leading supermarket retailers, Diazteca and Sun World agreed to a transaction that would make the Kankun variety broadly available under license to mango growers, marketers, retailers, and consumers worldwide and to enable Sun World researchers to utilize the variety in their breeding program.
“Sun World continues to expand our portfolio to encompass additional specialty fruit crops, through partnerships like Diazteca and our own variety development initiatives and expertise.” noted Jennifer Petersen, Chief Science Officer for Sun World.
“We’re excited to begin leveraging the Kankun variety and its unique attributes in our own breeding program,” added Moises Gonzalez, Specialty Crop Breeder for Sun World.
The Kankun variety is currently in limited production in Mexico, with trees available under license from Sun World beginning in 2024. Sun World plans to test the variety within its global licensing network.
For more information, visit sun-world.com and diazteca.com
About Sun World International, LLC:
Sun World International, LLC was founded in the mid-1970s and today operates as a global variety development and licensing company. Sun World is dedicated to breeding and developing new varieties for the seedless table grape, stone fruit, and specialty fruit industries. The California-based company has a network of more than 2,000 licensed growers and marketers in most of the world’s fruit producing regions and maintains offices in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America, Israel, and South Africa.
About Diazteca:
Diazteca is an international, vertically integrated family business that has been operating for over 60 years. Diazteca is one of Mexico’s largest mango suppliers, shipping over three million boxes a year from their 2,000 acres of mangoes.
