Exclusive new Stella variety is major advance with higher yield and greater disease resistance.
US: Pure Fresh produce exciting new blackberry - Stella
Stella, a medium-sized berry slightly bigger than the popular and flavourful Tupy, has a higher sugar content and longer shelf life than other varieties. The exciting new Pure Fresh blackberry also has a more cylindrical shape for a better, more durable fit in clamshell packaging, a significant benefit for retailers and consumers of the delicate fruit.
The elongated shape of the Pure Fresh Stella allows for better arrangement in the clamshell, minimizing pressure on the high-water content blackberries and preventing bursting and leaking during transit, said Roberto Castaneda Sr., the founder of Pure Fresh and its parent company, Guatemala and Mexico based grower Planesa.
“We are very happy,” announced Castaneda. “We call the blackberry ‘Stella’ because it is now the star of the Pure Fresh berry program.” Stella means star in Italian.
“We see a lot of future in it. It is a new and modern variety,” Castaneda said.
Pure Fresh is the exclusive importer and marketer of the Stella under the Pure Fresh brand, and Planesa is the exclusive producer of the Stella in Guatemala and Central America.
The Quest for a Better-Shaped Blackberry with Improved Flavor
Planesa has been working on improving blackberry varieties since 1998 with Dr. John R. Clark at the University of Arkansas, which has one of the world’s most successful blackberry variety programs, said Castaneda. Clark and Planesa introduced the commercially popular Kiowa variety to Guatemala and the high-yielding Kiowa today accounts for 90 percent of the blackberry volume out of Guatemala, one of the few countries in the world where the Kiowa has been produced successfully, said Castaneda. The Kiowa replaced the Brazos variety which was not as superior to the Kiowa.
Building on Castaneda’s philosophy that new and better varieties are the key to staying ahead in the produce business, Planesa sought a blackberry even better than the Kiowa. The innovating company had seen excellent results with the Brazilian Tupy blackberry on its farms in the Mexican state of Michoacan. The international grower began growing Tupy in Guatemala and it has shown some success but yields are lower than those in Mexico. So the search began to find a new berry that would have better yields in the sub-tropical Guatemala climate.
“Planesa and the University of Arkansas set up a testing agreement to evaluate several unreleased selections for possible adaptation to Guatemala, said Dr. Clark. This selection was tested by Planesa in Guatemala and found to perform well in the low-chill environment in Guatemala. It is a thornless plant, and produces large, long berries of good quality. Postharvest evaluations have indicated superior postharvest capability compared to Kiowa, a key attribute for shipping a fresh-market blackberry.”
About Pure Fresh’s remarkable new Stella blackberry
The Pure Fresh Stella is a sweet, medium-sized berry, slightly bigger than the Tupy.
It has a longer shelf life and higher brix (sugar) content than other blackberry varieties, said Castaneda. “It has a sweet flavor with no seed taste or bad aftertaste.”
Firm and high-yielding, the Pure Fresh Stella not only has a shape better suited to the clamshell package but also is highly disease resistant. “We have found that it is very resistant to Downy Mildew, which is a disease that has given trouble to growers in various areas such as Guatemala and Mexico,” said Castaneda.
For more information:
Lyn Hughes
Tel: +1 972.636.1442