During a packed press conference at the Fruit Attraction horticultural trade fair in Madrid, the Italian Rivoira Group finally unveiled the new brand name that will be used to market two recently launched yellow pulp kiwifruit varieties: Kikoka.
Last year, the company NKP granted the Rivoira Group a worldwide commercial license for two varieties of sweet yellow kiwifruit owned by the University of Udine (Italy), and the brand name under which these yellow kiwifruits will be marketed has just been revealed.
Gerhard Dichgans, global project manager, outlined the history of the project, which was launched in 2008 with the planting of 16,000 sprouts grown by the University of Udine and selected by NKP.
"The two varieties have different characteristics: the 022 is harvested in mid-October and stands out for its long shelf life, while the 076 is harvested as early as mid to late September and is mostly characterized by its sweetness and dry matter."
"But a key aspect is that, in 7 years of trials, both varieties have shown to have great resistance to bacteriosis (PSA) and kiwifruit dieback, the two biggest problems currently affecting growers in Europe and around the world."
"Consumer demand for yellow kiwifruit is growing globally, but the production cannot keep up with the demand due to agronomic difficulties. With this project and these two new varieties, we believe we finally have a sustainable agricultural solution for growers," he said.
For his part, Marco Rivoira, CEO of the Rivoira Group, said that "our great advantage is that we are able to offer two varieties of superior quality and shelf life that will allow us to keep sales active until mid-May, as demonstrated by the first batches harvested in October 2022 and processed and marketed in April 2023."
"Commercial development is at its peak, with 140 hectares planted in 2022 and 220 hectares in 2023, plus another 200 hectares planned for 2024. This shows the extent to which our partners believe in the project," he added.
In Europe, licenses for 1,500 hectares have been granted to 12 companies, all of which were present at the conference. A first commercial crop of 450 tons will be harvested this fall and sold under the new Kikoka brand.
The next step will be the creation of a European consortium in which the partners will be shareholders on a pro rata basis, based on their licensed hectares. This consortium will be the sole entity in charge of the marketing of yellow kiwifruit under the Kikoka brand from the 2024 season onwards.
For more information:
Grupo Rivoira
www.rivoira.it