Fresh Forward introduced two new summer apple varieties this summer. To this end, the fruit breeder had invited interested parties from the sector on Wednesday 14 August to come and see the new varieties Wursixo and Wuranda. "Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, but that did not stop people from dropping by. There appeared to be a lot of interest in the new varieties," Fresh Forward's Peter-Jan van Ingen said.
On the day, visitors got an insight into the development and specifications of the Wursixo and Wuranda, both of which will be marketed as open concepts. The genesis of the summer varieties, which are both crosses of the SQ159 and Honeycrisp, has its origins in Norway. "That's actually where the whole project started," Peter-Jan explains. "The Norwegian retail purchasing organisation Bama was looking for varieties that could be grown in the country and also had to be picked before Elstar. After all, that is the variety with the last picking time which can be grown in Norway. We then sent 
10 selections of varieties from our programme, which entered the test phase there at three test sites. In the end, these two varieties were put forward as promising."
Right: Wursixo
The first commercial plots of Wursixo and Wuranda were then planted in Norway in 2020. "By now there are 30 hectares of both varieties. Bama then also introduced it to the Norwegian market in 2023 and they market it through their own brand names Eden and Fryd," Peter-Jan explains. "These brand names are only used in Norway, by the way, as they are the only ones outside the open concept. Bama retains its own sales. For the rest of the countries, interested growers can use it. The summer apples are not really export-oriented either, so we don't expect any struggles there."
Opportunities outside Norway
So how do the summer varieties stand out? "Mainly because of its vf scab resistance, picking time and colour," he says convincingly. "Wursixo is the earliest harvestable with a picking time five to 10 days after Delbare. The striped bi-coloured apple produces medium-sized fruits with a fresh, sweet-sour flavour. Wuranda fruits are 
ready for picking in late August; five to seven days before Gala in the Netherlands. The bright red, bi-coloured apple tastes fresh-sweet and has large fruits. Both varieties have medium to low cancer susceptibility." On the other hand, there are challenges in cultivation, such as mildew susceptibility in the Wuranda and possible problems with growth stress in the Wursixo.
Right: Wuranda
After the success in Norway, Fresh Forward now wants to make the summer varieties available in other countries as well. "We saw more and more demand for earlier varieties here too. Especially among direct marketers and home sellers, it is an interesting concept, as they see an added value in coming up with their own apple earlier than supermarkets and also providing its pickers with work at an earlier stage in the season. The offer so far has been mainly Delbare etc., but if you want to stand out as a grower, you soon come to the new early varieties anyway, which many breeders see a demand for and thus develop."
Starting phase
And so the first plots are now also in the other parts of Europe. "Because of the demand, we started looking at whether it could also be interesting for us. From there, we decided to release the Wursixo and Wuranda on a small scale to a number of growers who found them promising. It is still really in the early stages, because in total there are now about 2 to 3 hectares at various locations at Proeftuin Randwijk (the Netherlands), PCfruit (Belgium), but also in Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Germany. However, we still have most of it ourselves in our demo garden, but at the different locations the varieties turned out to succeed in other climate zones as well." Now was the first harvest, but it is not yet for marketing. "Through the open concept, we like to focus on parties who want to market it in the future. For this, they can contact TreeQuattro."
"Incidentally, we also support the open concept with our own brand names, but these will be announced at a later date. These will be made available free of charge to growers who will plant the Wursixo and Wuranda," Peter-Jan concludes. When this will be announced, he dare not yet say. "But it will definitely be before the next harvest."
For more information:
Peter-Jan van Ingen
Fresh Forward
Tel: +31 (0) 26 388 6448
[email protected]
www.fresh-forward.nl