Fresh produce distributor Montague has a new Australian-grown apple with a 'pink to red heart' in the works.
Under the Kissabel brand name, the red-flesh apples have been grown by an international consortium comprising 14 premium apple producers from five continents, including Australia’s Montague.
The launch has already been launched in Madrid, and is coming soon to Australia, according to the company.
Kissabel fruit is the outcome of more than 20 years of research conducted with natural methods by French breeder IFO, in which red-flesh wild apples were crossed with other quality varieties.
The red-flesh apples differ in flesh shade, skin colour, flavour and harvest timing.
Kissabel fruit from three varieties have been chosen for the first commercial tests of the brand in Europe, and made their way to Australian orchards in winter 2017.
With a unique assortment in the Kissabel range available, Montague aims to plant 14 varieties in coming years, expecting to have Kissabel apples available for consumers post 2020.
Rowan Little, general manager of intellectual property at Montague, said having the rights to planting, growing and selling the Kissabel range was a huge win.
"We are in the process of reinvigorating the Australian apple market and are very exctied about this opportunity,” he said.
The range of apple flavours include Kissabel Rouge; Kissabel Orange; and Kissabel Jaune.
Montague expects to have a select amount of Kissabel samples available for trade testing mid-2019 as a result from the first test trees this winter 2017.
