Fruit supplier AG Thames has announced the arrival of the first commercial volumes of Oz peaches and nectarines in the UK.
Oz are new varieties that AG Thames claims offer good eating quality as well as a longer shelf life than other peaches and nectarines.
The fruits are currently being imported from South Africa and Zimbabwe, but AG Thames struck a deal for planting, breeding and marketing Oz in the northern hemisphere back in February 2010 and plans to offer small commercial volumes of Oz from the northern hemisphere from spring 2014, with volumes increasing in 2015 and beyond.
If the first commercial run of Oz proves successful, the company plans to make Oz a permanent feature of the stone fruit calendar.
“The quality of the Oz peach and nectarine collection from the southern hemisphere is consistently good,” said stone fruit business unit director Danny Francis. “We have been very pleased with the first-rate eating quality of all varieties from across the range.”
AG Thames recently hosted a trip with growers from Europe and north Africa to South Africa and Zimbabwe to give them first-hand experience of how Oz is cultivated. “The Oz collection will be particularly interesting to growers and retailers alike,” said Francis. “It provides the grower and retailer access to strong early-season fruit at a time where consistency has been difficult to achieve.”
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