Over the past 25 years, the Kiku GmbH has been the driving force behind numerous successful apple varieties, such as Crimson Snow, ISAAQ, Red Moon, Kiku and SWING. At this year's Interpoma in Bolzano, the variety manager officially celebrates its 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, we talked to Jürgen Braun about the latest variety developments and the global apple market.
Kiku boss Jürgen Braun was recently present at the Fruit Attraction in Madrid.
With the founding of the Braun nursery and the discovery of the Japanese Fuji apple in the 1990s, his father Luis Braun had already laid the foundation for later success. In 1995, the first branded apple, KIKU®, was registered, followed by the founding of the Kiku GmbH in 1999. "Initially, our concept was met with scepticism by European marketers, since a sweet apple like Fuji was not available in German food retail at the time. Our very first partner was the Oberkirch fruit wholesale market, followed later by Salem Frucht. From this base, we were then able to gradually win over further partners for our concept," recalls Jürgen Braun. Nowadays, Kiku is represented in almost all European apple-growing countries.
The Kiku team is also currently working intensively on the distribution of the ISAAQ snack apple.
The company, which is based in South Tyrol, is now represented on all continents and has thus played an active role in shaping the global apple market. "Our most successful markets are Germany and the USA, in terms of both cultivation and marketing. But New Zealand is also a very important market for us: the apples grown there are mainly exported to Asia, particularly to Vietnam, China and Taiwan. We have found that Asian consumers are extremely brand-conscious, which of course helps us a lot commercially."
Kiku apples from New Zealand
Even after 25 years, it is still important to adapt to new challenges and changing conditions, continues Braun. "In the future, we will be more intensively involved in research and variety development. Specifically, this means that we will be looking for breeders who focus on sustainability in their breeding work. Due to climate change, we absolutely need robust, resistant and tolerant varieties for the fruit growing of the future. It is our job to develop solutions and concepts at an early stage, and I am positive that we will succeed in doing so. Climate change also has positive effects: Scandinavia, for example, will become increasingly interesting as an apple-growing region in the future."
The New Zealand produce is mainly exported to Asia.
Kiku GmbH's portfolio includes about a dozen apple varieties, including the latest innovation called Alnova. "This is not a club variety, but a variety for the open market. In terms of harvest time, it falls exactly between Gala and Golden, which is particularly advantageous from the grower's point of view. After several years of testing, we will plant the first commercial orchards in Central Europe in the fall," Braun concludes.
The Alnova variety is a new addition to the Kiku portfolio.
For more information:
Jürgen Braun
KIKU GmbH
Pillhof 3
39057 Eppan
Mobile +39-339-799 444 2
[email protected]
www.kiku-apple.com