The apple is a stunner, but good looks and great taste are only a small part of the Soluna™ story. Soluna™ has a striking dark-burgundy skin with a creamy yet crisp flesh and is very slow to turn brown. The explosive taste balances sweetness and acidity beautifully. The brand story promises consumers something special and healthy yet authentic. An everyday indulgence that makes them feel good and is good for them. Consumers are looking for SOMETHING REAL, and that something is
Soluna™.
2023 the first year of sales
In 2023 the Soluna™ branded apple was sold for the first time via WA Farm Direct, the exclusive Australian licensed exporter in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Dubai. Consumers loved the brand and export programs exceeded expectations by 15 %.
Soluna™ has outperformed Australian export activities, with exports already representing 30% of the total Australian apple exports, while ANABP 01 is still only 2.5% of the total apple planting in Australia with very young orchards. Fruit sales were supported by substantial marketing efforts, which included tv campaigns, online sales, a branded food truck and bus etc. with very prominent point of sale material in stores, regular in-store tastings and beautiful eye-catching packaging. Sean Engelbrecht, National Development Manager at WA Farm Direct comments “ Our first year with the Soluna™ brand on the market, could not have gone better. The brand was accepted by all markets and we managed to increase sales in the first year! We look forward to the new season!”
World-wide testing and Consumer Research
A Technical Group, is responsible for the world-wide testing of the variety and to share information and technical breakthroughs from all global experiences, during the evaluation period. 2023 was also the year that TopStar extended its test blocks from Europe to the rest of their network. This was an opportunity for producers in the rest of the world to discover the variety, either during the successful orchard tour held in Australia in March, or in their own orchards, thanks to the expansion of test blocks on their farms.
