Rupert Hargreaves

Taking strawberry varieties selected at 38.5° latitude in California and successfully adapting them to 30° latitude in Egypt is never straightforward. Environmental conditions shift significantly – temperature profiles, light intensity, humidity and growing systems all influence how a variety performs. Success depends on careful adaptation, strong technical understanding and long-term collaboration.

At Global Plant Genetics, we take confidence from experience. Over many years, we have worked alongside carefully selected licence holders and industry stakeholders to develop nursery and propagation programmes in key production regions around the world. These relationships are not built overnight; they are developed and strengthened over more than a decade of shared goals, investment and trust.

One of the strongest examples of this approach is our ongoing partnership in Egypt with Domiatec Agri Group. Around five years ago, Sameh El Diamaty and I began planning what would be required to establish a successful strawberry nursery operation in Egypt. Domiatec is a highly respected agricultural business with extensive expertise across multiple crops and agrochemical sectors, making them an ideal long-term partner for the programme.

Last month, I spent three days with Sameh and the wider Domiatec team reviewing progress, assessing key successes and planning the next phase of development over the coming 24 months. It was an energising and rewarding visit, highlighting just how far the programme has progressed while reinforcing the opportunities still ahead.

Particularly impressive are the exceptionally high standards Domiatec has achieved in strawberry plant propagation, plant health management and intellectual property protection. These foundations are critical to building a sustainable, high-performing nursery operation capable of supporting long-term commercial success in the region.

The performance of both UCD Victor and UCD Valiant continues to strengthen, with both varieties clearly establishing themselves as leading performers within the Egyptian market, and beyond. At the same time, trials of the NEW upcoming releases are generating equally strong excitement and confidence for the future pipeline.

During the visit, I also delivered a technical presentation to the Domiatec team, highlighting the increasingly standardised information we are now gathering across each strawberry variety within the programme. This work is becoming an important part of how GPG supports licence holders globally, enabling more accurate benchmarking of varietal performance across different climates, production systems and market conditions. By collecting consistent technical and agronomic data, we are strengthening decision-making, improving adaptation strategies and helping partners maximise the commercial potential of each variety.

Ultimately, successful variety commercialisation relies on achieving three equal wins:

The grower

The licence holder

GPG and the breeder

We are very pleased with the progress being made in Egypt and remain firmly on track to achieve these shared goals together.