Now that the global clientele of Blue Whale is demanding more and more volumes and different varieties, the cooperative plans to expand its orchards from 5,000 to 6,000 hectares in the next five years. “We invest 10% of our revenue in development, which represents 30 million euros [33.6 million USD] per year,” explains Alain Vialaret, director of the company. “We help young producers settle and we encourage other producers to expand their surfaces. In general, their costs go down, so they earn more.”
This year, the brand will celebrate its 50th anniversary. But the company’s development does not end there, with four major projects currently in progress: marketing the Candine apple, a new orchard for Zespri Sun Gold kiwis, developing an organic brand and the production of zero pesticide residue fruits.
Test year for the Candine®
The Candine apple was developed by Agro Sélections Fruits. Blue Whale has exclusive rights to this variety in France. “This year, we carried out a lot of tests and technical studies in Asia, Spain, Great Britain, in the East and in France of course,” says Alain. The Candine apple is a cross between the Fuji and Ariane varieties. Its commercialization was officially launched at Fruit Attraction in Madrid in October 2018.
300 hectares of Zespri Sun Gold®
Another important project is the development of the yellow kiwi, for which Blue Whale has a partnership with Zespri. “Zespri is the world leader in branded kiwis. We want to develop a 300-hectare orchard of Zespri Sun Gold in our region to widen our offer.”
Developing an organic brand
The French market is turning to organic products more and more. “For this reason, Blue Whale developed 5-to-7 varieties of organic apples which are resistant, tasty (tested by a consumer panel), and keep well. We chose to market them under an umbrella brand called ‘Élément Terre Bio®’. Having an umbrella brand allows us to add as many varieties as we want.” Blue Whale plans to expand its organic orchards over dozens of additional hectares, to reach a total surface of 317 hectares in 2023.
5-6% with Zero Pesticide Residue in 2 years
Besides the organic consumers, there is also a group of consumers who buy zero pesticide residue products. “These consumers mostly want to buy healthy products. Several of our producers are currently learning how to grow with zero residue. Today, this is still complicated. Our objective is for 5-6% of our products to be zero pesticide residue in 2 years. Within 10 years maybe, all our orchards could be zero pesticide residue,” concludes Alain.
For more information: 
Blue Whale
dina@blue-whale.com
www.blue-whale.com