"UK: New Zealand "papple" hitting M & S stores"
It's an unusual fruit that, as yet, has no shelf name. To all extents and purposes it looks like an apple, it's round and red. however, it is actually the result of cross breeding Chinese and Japanese pear varieties.
The official name for the fruit is PremP109 and it is the result of a breeding programme undertaken by Plant and Food Research.
Brett Ennis, chief executive of Prevar, which commercialises the fruit that comes out of the breeding programme, says about 4,500 commercial PremP109 trees are grown at the top of the South Island in the Motueka and Riwaka area.
This is the second year for exports to the UK, and also to Asia, he said.
Though there are similarities, the PremP109 pear is different to a nashi pear, not just in appearance, but in flavour as well.
"It has a sweeter flavour and a little bit more complexity to its flavour than you might find in traditional nashi," Mr Ennis said. "But its texture and its juiciness is more akin to a nashi."
Source: 3news.co.nz