Earlier in November, I travelled to South Korea and Australia. This trip afforded the opportunity to meet with key stakeholders within our berry and asparagus portfolios, including existing licensees and customers as well as potential new partners. In addition, being on the ground in both countries was the ideal way to learn more about their berry and asparagus industries in today’s world.

Our berry and asparagus portfolios include varieties that are adapted to production in the major growing locations within both countries. The strawberry varieties from the UC Davis programme were high on the agenda in many of the meetings. Despite a relatively medium-sized population of 51.7m people, strawberries are extremely popular in South Korea. In numbers, this equates to the consumption of over 200.000 metric tonnes within the country annually; a shining example for other territories where consumption is relatively lower. In approximate terms, this is double the volume per person than in the UK. High and low chill blueberries were also an important part of my meetings and expect to see some updates from us soon with regards to new varietal developments for South Korea.

In Australia, discussions involved a wider range of our varietal offer both on the mainland and in the island of Tasmania. Australia has a number of differing production climates for berry and asparagus production, often meaning that year-round production is possible across the whole country. These varying climatic regions mean that different types of variety are needed according to the location. For example, short-day strawberry varieties are more common in Queensland with day-neutral types the mainstay in Tasmania. I was able to spend time with our existing strawberry licence holding nursery businesses and get the latest on the performance of varieties such as the short-day “Victor” and “Warrior” as well as the day-neutrals “Moxie”, “Royal Royce” and “Valiant”. It was exciting to hear of their improved performance as both plug and bare-root plants in several locations. Other meetings covered asparagus, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, all in territory and making strides in terms of a consistently improved offering to retailers and consumers.

There will be a whole range of exciting developments from both countries in the coming months and years, so stay tuned to us here at GPG to get the latest information.