A new Gala variety was produced in RSA: Cherry Red Bingo Gala.

18/11/2019

A new Gala variety was cultivated in South-African fruit orchards. Recently TopFruit Company represented this new high-potential cultivar with red fruit, named Bingo Gala.  The cultivar genetic stability was confirmed by seven years trials. Other characteristics, such as taste, yield & harvest time are particularly the same, as others Gala have.  

The Bingo Gala grower Jannie Wiegman from the Zuiderkruis Nursery in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley in the Western Cape reports about the 90% of the crop guaranteed to conform the color specification of 80% to full color. The main advantage is the compact harvesting period, meaning the safe of labour cost.   

The developer thinks, the compact harvesting period affords to get more crops & more money for the orchard operation. The cultivar is positioned as the top seller in Asia. Jannie supposes apple color is the top advantage of the cultivar for Asian markets. “The money is in the colour, it’s the beginning and the end,” – he says.

Other South-African exporters are on board with the cultivar developer. “It could really open the Asian market to South African Gala apples if it’s planted widely enough. Over the past forty years our Galas were mostly destined for the UK and Western Europe where consumers are used to Galas with less colour. In the East, New Zealand and Chile have enjoyed an advantage over us on that score. We’re still exporting the usual Galas to the East where our fruit sells for less than those from New Zealand and Chile. Bingo Gala therefore opens up opportunities for us to be more competitive,”- Hein Keulder, CEO of fruit exporter Fruitways, thinks.

The cultivar agent TopFruit Company confirmed that plant breeder’s rights have been granted and approved for listing in the National Varietal List. Nursery plants of Bingo Gala variety are available for order at TopFruit.

Source:

https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9156301/new-gala-variety-from-south-africa-cherry-red-bingo-gala/