Orange and Jaune: the Kissabel® season kicks off in the UK, France and Switzerland

The second year of sales of red-flesh apples for the European partners of the Ifored project starts with the yellow and orange varieties. The climate of summer 2021 summer had a great influence on their flesh colour.

With the first harvest of the Jaune and Orange varieties in the second half of September, the Kissabel® apple season is kicking off for the partners of the Ifored project in the Northern hemisphere. Switzerland, France and the UK have experienced the same summer 2021 climate, with low rainfall and colder temperatures, resulting in increased flesh colour development of Jaune and Orange varieties and even impacting the size of the apples, which are smaller than last year. Quality remains high, along with the interest of customers and consumers in this variety, which has been boosted by targeted marketing campaigns.

Kissabel® Orange and Kissabel® Jaune are two coloured-flesh apple varieties offered in Europe by the partners of the Ifored project. The first has orange/pink skin pigmentation, deep pink pulp and a fresh, tasty flavour, while the second features yellow skin, pink flesh and a balanced taste.

In the United Kingdom, Kissabel® Jaune and Orange have developed a good colour and taste. “The Orange harvest started in the second half of September, while the Jaune harvest will begin in early October. We are growing alongside the production, which is high-quality despite the small temperature differences between day and night of the last few months, a factor that could compromise the sweetness and development of their characteristic colour,” comments Anna Coxe, Head of Technical and Quality at Greenyard. “We are once again ready to take Kissabel® apples to all our customers and distributors in the UK”.

“We have started to harvest Kissabel® Jaune and the colouring is exceptional. Even though the majority of our orchards are only two years old and therefore produce a relatively small quantity, we have land that we have been working for four years and expect a yield of 40 tonnes per hectare,” remarks Hannah Martin, Commercial Director at Worldwide Fruit. “We have planned specific marketing activities for Kissabel®, such as boxes containing various ingredients in order to create recipes with apples from this range. We will also sponsor the National Fruit Show where we will have a stand and will hand out samples to familiarise people with Kissabel® Jaune and Kissabel® Orange, which are flagship varieties for us”.

In France expectations are high for the new Kissabel® season. “We have started the harvest and, although the apples are smaller compared to the previous two seasons, they have developed a more intense colour and the production, in terms of quantity, is excellent, with a forecast of around 600 tonnes in total,” reports Marc Peyres, Export Sales Manager at Blue Whale. “For the coming months we are preparing promotions and competitions connected to Halloween. Our customers are responding wonderfully to the Kissabel® apples. We will soon have the red pulp varieties, which are perfect for growing in the South of France, expanding our range.”

“As for almost all producers, in our case too the climate has reduced the size of the apples this year, but has nonetheless given them an excellent taste and colour. We have shipped the first pallets of the season to our customers, who are looking forward to bringing them to wholesale markets and large-scale retailers,” comments François Mestre, co-manager of Mesfruits. “We are also planning to export some pallets to the United Kingdom, which will be distributed by Tesco and M&S. In France there will be promotions in Lyon with Leclerc and, subsequently, through the Système U supermarket chain.”

Kissabel® is the brand that identifies the different varieties of coloured-flesh apples – from pink to deep red – developed by the IFORED project, an international partnership involving 14 of the world’s largest production and marketing companies.