Enza, the national apple exporter about to be stripped of its grip on pipfruit sales overseas, has already tied up its access to a variety that growers hope will be the next big commercial success.
Known as "scifresh", which is bred from crossing royal gala and braeburn apples, it is
expected to do well in export markets, says Enza variety development technical manager Steve Potbury.
Developed by plant-breeders at Hortresearch's Hawkes Bay science centre, scifresh is the most advanced of the pipfruit cultivars under development.
The first trial shipment of 750 cartons was sold this year in Britain, other parts of Europe and the United States.
Mr Potbury said there was a lot of positive feedback from consumers, customers and marketers.
The variety had all the traits that made an apple desirable - including crispness, attractive looks and exceptional storage ability.
Scifresh was expected to be launched commercially in two years and growers had shown enthusiasm for planting the new variety, especially in the Nelson region, he said.
As Enza had helped pay for the breeding programme, it had exclusive marketing rights over the scifresh variety - meaning that if orchardists grew it, they would have to sell the fruit through Enza.
Enza has a plan for the best New Zealand types, protected with plant variety rights and trademarking, to be eventually grown in the Northern Hemisphere so that affluent markets can receive year-round supplies.
If Enza can retain control over the marketing of those cultivars, it will be able to keep prices high by controlling the scarcity of the fruit.
Although scifresh is the result of a controlled cross-pollination, its parents - royal gala and braeburn, which have both been popular in the market over the years - were both chance findings.
Royal gala originated from a mutation or "sport" apple found in the North Island a few decades ago and braeburn originated from a chance seedling found near Nelson.
Mr Potbury said all varieties were either developed from a sport apple or chance seedling.
These might have grown from a discarded apple core or were developed through specialised breeding programmes.
- NZPA
