The producer and marketer of the Blanc Seedless grape, a white seedless grape variety, said his product could fill a difficult window in the supply of table grapes for the UK between April and June.
Polar Fresh Group, a Chilean company that also has offices in Barcelona, Peru and the US, has the exclusive rights to this variety as well as ambitious plans so that its Pristine brand becomes the Pink Lady in the world of table grapes.
Polar Fresh presented its new grape at the London Produce Show, which was held in London at the Grosvenor House Hotel.
The Blanc Seedless is grown in Chile between March and June, in Spain starting September, while in the US its grown from August to October, and in Peru in December. In 2019, the company expects to double production and achieve volumes of 9,586 million kilos. The grape is also grown in Australia between March and April.
Andres Kuznar, from Polar Fresh, said they were trying to raise awareness about the existence and characteristics of this variety, particularly in the UK and Scandinavia, before marketing the brand.
"There is no competition in the window between April and June. There is no good white seedless variety available then. We are co-branding it with retailers in Norway and Dubai, and we hope it will have good marketing and product preference," he added.
Kuznar acknowledged the difficulty of positioning fresh produce brands in UK's retail market, but he said there had been some success cases, such as Zespri kiwifruit or Pink Lady apples, that could be replicated.
"We have sent four containers of Chilean fruit this season to Morrisons, as a test run. We also are going to send some Spanish fruit this fall so they can try it," he said.
The United States continues to be the main market for Polar Fresh, but the UK and Scandinavia have great growth potential for the company.
Source: SimFRUIT