bredtoboost Strawberry varieties

winter production in the Med

Angus Soft Fruits Ltd recently released three new strawberry varieties – AVA Alicia, AVA Cataline and AVA So a – each of which have been speci cally bred to produce delicious fruit through the Mediterranean winter season

Angus Soft Fruits Ltd breeds new varieties of strawberries and raspberries at its Angus Innovation site, based at Sandbrook Grounds.

The company’s breeder, Dave Griffiths, has been growing berries for over 40 years. Their aim is to develop new varieties which have improved flavour, appearance, shelf life, disease resistance and yield than existing varieties. In 2003, Angus Soft Fruits released the original AVA strawberry variety, which was the first strawberry grown in the UK to be sold into premium lines at leading retailers.

In the last few years, two further commercial selections have been named – AVA Rosa and Islay, both of which are widely grown and supplied to the supermarkets today.

Subsequent new varieties from the company’s breeding programme are pre-fixed with the AVA trademark, which Angus Soft Fruits says helps to differentiate its premium berries from others.

The latest three varieties were bred and selected by the Angus Soft Fruits Breeding Program team led by research director, Dave

Griffiths. Intended for production in the Mediterranean region, trials and tests over the past three years have proved they have something special to offer growers, retailers and consumers, the company says.

The science behind breeding these varieties started several years ago when Angus Soft Fruits reviewed its Mediterranean production of strawberries. Varieties at that time were deemed to lack some of the characteristics enjoyed during the summer season of production. Efforts were made to combine genetics that would express the appearance and flavour of the traditional ‘summer season’ berries. Also required in the make-up of the new varieties was the ability for them to produce fruit in the short days of winter, albeit during the warm climate enjoyed during the Mediterranean winter. The results have more than satisfied the requirements of Angus Soft Fruits farmers, retailers and consumers alike, the company claims, allowing for the scaling up of production of the varieties in the months and years ahead.

Success in packaging innovations

Angus Soft Fruits was thrilled to win the Sedex Sustainability Awards for Tech & Innovation earlier this year, recognising success in its packaging innovations.

As Britain’s rst berry supplier to import strawberries using new cushioned punnets instead of bubble pads, the company believes it is leading the industry in reducing plastic, and is working towards 100% recyclable packaging.

Over the next 12 months, Angus Soft Fruits Ltd aims to eliminate over 42 million bubble pads from its global supply chain. To give you an idea of how much plastic this is, if you put 42 million bubble pads side by side it would take you from the company’s o ce in Arbroath to its o ce in Huelva, Spain and back again – 3,764 miles to be exact.

In addition to this, in January the business launched a paper punnet for its premium blueberries which has 85% less plastic, is FSC certi ed, and is fully recyclable.

According to Angus Soft Fruits: “This has been a fantastic achievement that we are very proud of, and we look forward to continuing with sustainable packaging innovations well into the future. Well done and thank you to everyone involved.

“Our sustainability goals have been achieved so far with brilliant innovation and collaboration throughout our packaging team, our partner suppliers Sharpak and Graphic Packaging International, LLC; our growers around the world; our customers, and the wider group.”

AVA Alicia

This short-day, early season strawberry variety has a large green calyx and boasts a “delicious sweet avour”.

The shiny, rounded berries are an orange-red colour, medium or large sized, with indented seeds.

They have an attractive appearance, rm durable esh and no white shoulder.

AVA Catalina

This is a highlyavoured, short-day strawberry with a wrap-around medium-sized calyx.

The rounded, symmetrical, heartshaped fruit have an even internal colour, while externally they are medium red.

With indented seeds and no white shoulder, these bold, delicious berries are rm and succulent, and o er early Spanish season production.

AVA Sophia

These have a slightly turned back, smaller calyx. With no white shoulder, and a firm texture, the wellpresented large, slightly elongated shiny berries have a light-medium red colour, with indented but prominent seeds. A shortday, early season strawberry variety with a delightful fresh flavour.