Tutti™ apples (variety HOT84A1), the world’s first apple specifically bred to tolerate warm climates, have taken another step in their international expansion. VentureFruit, the strategic partner for the commercialisation of Hot Climate Partnership varieties, has signed an agreement with Joy Wing Mau, one of China’s leading fruit producers and distributors, to establish 300 hectares of Tutti™ orchards.
According to VentureFruit managing director Morgan Rogers, this agreement marks a key step towards the goal of reaching 1,200 hectares of Tutti™ worldwide by 2030. “Joy Wing Mau’s scale, expertise and market network make it the ideal partner to introduce Tutti™ in China and accelerate brand growth in Asia,” Rogers said.
Meanwhile, You Wenzhe, general manager of Joy Wing Mau’s fruit technology division, stated: “Selecting varieties adapted to an increasingly extreme climate is essential for us. From the moment we visited the trial plots in Catalonia, we saw Tutti™’s potential, and we are excited to bring it to Chinese growers and consumers.”
An apple variety designed for the future
The Hot Climate Partnership is a breeding programme led by Plant & Food Research (New Zealand), Fruitfutur (a Catalan fruit growers’ association), and IRTA, with the goal of developing new apple and pear varieties adapted to global warming. Tutti™ is the programme’s first success story, the result of more than twenty years of research and the evaluation of over 100,000 trees.
“Promoting the internationalisation of this climate-resilient apple variety in a country as large as China is a strategic decision for IRTA. This process will generate new opportunities and strengthen our presence in a highly competitive global market,” said Josep Usall i Rodié, IRTA’s general director.
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“Tutti™ is a variety specially designed to thrive in hot conditions, enabling growers to tackle the challenges posed by climate change. Its international expansion confirms the need for this innovation and reinforces Catalonia’s role as a reference in fruit research,” noted Eva Ogué, head of IRTA’s Valorisation Office.
Quality and consumer appeal
Tutti™ is a sweet, crunchy and juicy apple with a bright red colour and honey and melon notes. It has been extensively tested in production trials and consumer studies, achieving excellent feedback.
Since its launch in February 2023, more than 900 hectares of Tutti™ have been licensed across Spain, South America, China and the UK.
With this agreement, Joy Wing Mau joins Tutti™’s global production network, which already includes Copefrut S.A. (South America), Worldwide Fruit (UK) and FruitFutur (Catalonia).
