A new pear variety will hit Coles supermarket shelves and be grown in Australia for the first time, thanks to an Ardmona fruit grower. But consumers will have to wait until 2021 for a taste.
Oakmoor Orchards owner Rocky Varapodio will pull out 13ha of old trees on his Ardmona property and replace them with Honey Belle trees.
The European pear variety is owned by Freshmax Australia, which will also be the Australian marketer.
‘‘The pears originated in Europe but are grown extensively in New Zealand,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s sweet, has a very nice crunch and it’s a pear to pick up and eat immediately instead of leaving for a few days to ripen like other varieties.’’
Oakmoor Orchards is currently putting in the infrastructure before growing begins in the winter of 2018, a date that was brought forward thanks to a $500000 grant from the Coles Nurture Fund.
‘‘With the help of the Nurture Fund, we can fast track the planting and grow the variety using the world’s best practice with high density planting, trellising and crop protection netting within 12 months rather than four years because of the investment required,’’ Mr Varapodio said.
Oakmoor Orchards expects to grow 23000 trees and 750 tonnes of the new fruit annually from 2021 when the first harvest occurs.
Source: sheppnews.com.au
