To come to the point of bringing a new apple variety to the European continent, a lot of effort was made over the past decade, says Kamila Jankowska, owner of Polish apple tree nursery Perfect Fruits Sp. z O.O.: "We are a nursery, Jankowski & Syn, supplying the best apple trees to European orchards. For many years, we traveled across Europe in search of the most valuable apple that generates profits for our customers. Ten years ago, we established testing orchards to verify different varieties in Poland. We sourced new varieties for testing from breeding institutes across Europe."
© Perfect Fruits Trade
The past decade has given the Polish company a lot of experience with European varieties. According to Jankowska, these varieties did not allow the company to go for the next step, and they went looking in the United States for alternatives. "Licensed trees have become well established in our production, and our customers are satisfied with the yields and export potential these varieties provide. The time has come for further growth and the next step: to meet the expectations of today's consumer, who is looking for an exclusive product, a premium apple variety. Since European genetics did not allow, at this stage, for truly innovative flavor development, we went across the ocean in search of a completely different taste."
© Perfect Fruits Trade
As a result, Jankowska is now bringing the SnapDragon apple to Polish orchards: "Those who don't know the SnapDragon variety yet, absolutely have to try it! There will be an opportunity at Fruit Logistica in Berlin. It's a completely new variety in terms of crunchiness and delicate sweetness. The breeder, Professor Susan Brown from Cornell University, has Polish roots and understands perfectly what suits us in Central Europe in terms of flavour. It has a beautiful color, an ideal harvest window, and above all, a taste that stands out from other varieties available on the market."
Thanks for the marketing strategy, there is already some demand for this variety, Jankowska explains. "In recent years, we focused mainly on marketing, thanks to which the variety has become desired by the consumers. Now it's time to meet the demand we have created. Since last year, we have been steadily increasing plantings in orchards. The expansion of acreage will be proportional to market demand. Beginnings always take the most time, so for now we just focus on the production."
© Perfect Fruits Trade
Jankowska has a clear vision for the targeted consumer for the SnapDragon apples: "We want to supply SnapDragon to conscious, mature markets where consumers are willing to pay a higher price for their favorite apple. Of course, most of the fruit will remain on the domestic market. We started with the northern countries; our first shipment this year reached Scandinavia. Consumers in Sweden were the first to have the chance to bite into this apple."
The price for SnapDragon apples will be higher than that of other apples in the Polish supermarkets, Jankowska explains. "We're confident that the shelf price will be almost twice as high as standard varieties offered on the Polish market. You have to keep in mind that apples in Poland are relatively inexpensive compared to other countries."
© Perfect Fruits Trade
The company hopes to bring more overseas varieties to the European continent in the near future: "The SnapDragon variety is just the beginning for us, the first variety introduced to the market by Perfect Fruits Trade. We already have additional tested and equally interesting varieties in our orchards. In the near future, you will see the same approach again: first marketing, and then the variety on the store shelf," Jankowska concludes.
For more information:
Kamila Jankowska
Perfect Fruits Trade
Tel: +48 504 262 466
[email protected]
www.snapdragon.pl
