Red and pink-fleshed Kissabel apples have created quite a stir in supermarkets across the UK and in Europe, with demand often outpacing availability.
The red, gold and orange skins cover an explosion of colour inside, making for quite a splash to those who cut into it or use it as a creative garnish.
“In France and the UK, all of our customers would have kept buying if there had been more volume to sell,” said Jean Nicolas Blouet of Mesfruits of the challenges posed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The brand and those alluring elements offer a huge chance for buyers this time around to boost sales. “I firmly believe that Kissabel is one of the most exciting varietal developments,” said Jeremy Linsell, Technical and Performance Development Officer at Worldwide Fruit, which planted two yellow-skinned Kissabel varieties. His colleague Hannah McIlfatrick is extremely excited about the product’s arrival. “Kissabel brings something truly unique to the category, with its distinct red-pink flesh colour and deliciously fresh crisp taste.”
Kissabel, developed using natural breeding techniques from the Ifored consortium – 14 of the major production and marketing companies in the world – can be a point of difference in the UK market.
“The feedback has been good, and the customers like it,” says Anna Coxe, Head of Technical and Quality at Greenyard. “We have a positive feeling about the level of demand for next season.”
Kissabel represents several highly distinctive additions to the apple category. A number of different red-, orange- and yellow-skinned varieties offer a range of appealing flavours.
It has been a brand easy to market, despite the pandemic slowing in-store tastings. Direct marketing to consumers hasn’t waned in other parts of Europe.
“Through clear and direct visual communication in store, we were still able to convey the variety’s added value,” said Andrea Fedrizzi, Marketing and Communications Manager at Italy’s Melinda. “Even in the absence of tastings, this generated excellent results.”
Emmanuel de Lapparent, who manages the Ifored programme that oversees Kissabel’s development, said he sees a bright future for the brand. “2020 was the second significant commercial campaign for Kissabel in Europe, and it is clearly showing great prospects for the coming years. It is proving to be a real innovation in the apple category.”
New Fruit Congress on tap: The Southern Hemisphere Association of Fresh Fruit Exporters (SHAFFE) is hosting the first Southern Hemisphere Fresh Fruit Trade Congress on 25th March, centered on the theme of “keeping the world supplied”, a critical message heard throughout the industry during this pandemic. The program of the Congress is now available online.
The opening keynote speaker will be Beth Bechdol, Food And Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Deputy Director General, who will be discussing the importance of the Fruit industry to global agri-food systems.
“We are more than honoured, to have secured such a high-level speaker for our conference, as this more than ever shows the importance of availability of fruit and vegetables as a key element to global nutrition and a healthy global society,” said SHAFFE president Charif Christian Carvajal.
The program also will be focussed on “targeted market intelligence and discussion on trade flows and figures, crop trends and industry outlooks provided by experienced trade experts from all eight Southern Hemisphere countries” including Nathan Hancock from Citrus Australia, Federico Baya from the Argentinian Blueberry Committee, Luiz Eduardo Raffaelli from Abrafrutas, Ignacio Caballero from the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX), Alan Pollard from New Zealand Apple and Pears, Ricardo Polis from ProCitrus Peru, Prof. Ferdi Meyer from the Bureau of Food and Agricultural Policy in South Africa and Carlos Maria Fraschini from Upefruy.
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