The JOYA® apple brand, at the top tier of the Cripps Red cultivar, is enlarging its shelf space in South Africa. Currently the apple is only available at Woolworths. Recent tastings at various Woolworths stores brought the tangy apple to customers’ attention, ahead of the upcoming summer holiday.
In South Africa, where Cripps Red is the second top-selling apple tree variety at the moment, according to TopFruit, local master licensee for the cultivar, the apple has been grown in all of the production regions for the past twenty years. It is an apple that extends the season, first from the Free State and later coming in from the Elgin/Villiersdorp, Langkloof and Ceres areas.
Its main export period runs from about week 20 to 30 and it has the advantage, pertinent to South African apple growers, of colouring easier than Cripps Pink. (Exactly the reason why the top seller among apple trees in South Africa is currently Rosy Glow, with which Cripps Pink is being replaced.)
The popular Cripps Red apples were rebranded in 2014 and are now marketed under the JOYA® brand, backed by a full marketing campaign in season.
TopFruit is marketing the apple especially to active families with children, with particular reference to the apple’s contribution to nutrition during exercise.At their recent tastings at various Woolworths stores in the Western Cape and Gauteng, customers were encouraged to pair the apple with full-cream yoghurt or peanut butter, adding toppings of their choice like nuts.
There has been a pleasing increase in the acreage under Cripps Red over the past few years. Starting from 427ha in 2012, extending to 776ha by 2015 and 934ha by last year, Cripps Red accounts for 4% of apple area.
Its acreage is expected to reach 1 160 ha by the end of this year. Hortgro reports that 1 037 094 x 12.5kg of Cripps Red equivalent cartons passed for export last year, a slight drop from the previous year.
For more information:Liza Matthews
TopFruit
Tel: +27 21 874 1033
Email: lizam@topfruit.co.za
Facebook: JoyaApplesSA