AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA, 20 October 2017: A natural kiss that reawakens the zest for discovery in consumers and invites them to reveal the surprising pink to red heart. This is Kissabel®, the new brand chosen for the red-flesh apples of Ifored. Grown by an international consortium comprising 14 of the biggest premium apple producers from five continents, including Australia’s leading family-owned fresh produce company, Montague, launched in Madrid yesterday and is coming  soon to Australia.

Kissabel’s brand philosophy is to offer a range of innovative, completely natural, tempting apples, astonishing in both appearance and taste. Kissabel® fruit is the outcome of more than 20 years of research conducted with exclusively natural methods by French breeder IFO, in which red-flesh wild apples were crossed with varieties of outstanding quality in terms of flavour, keeping, appearance and fruit size.

The result is a unique assortment of red-flesh apples, which 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 its way to Australian orchards in winter 2017. With a unique assortment in the Kissabel® range available, Montague aims to plant 14 varieties in the coming years, expecting to have Kissabel® apples available for consumers post 2020.

“We are honoured to be partnering with international breeders, Ifored, on the Kissabel® launch”, says Rowan Little, General Manager Intellectual Property at Montague. “Having the rights to planting, growing and selling the Kissabel® Range in Australia will be one of the latest successes from the team at Montague who have been growing fresh produce since 1948. We are in the process of reinvigorating the Australian apple market and are very exctied about this opportunity.”

The range of apple flavours include:

  • Kissabel® Rouge. With red skin and flesh, this fresh, crisp variety has a bright colour and intense flavour, enriched with hints of berries.
  • Kissabel® Orange. The attractive orange skin is recognisable at a glance, and conceals astonishing pink-red flesh. Firm and juicy, it has a perfect sweet- tart balance.
  • Kissabel® Jaune. A bite into the freckled yellow skin reveals sweet, attractive flesh with delicate pink nuances. This variety has very good storeability.

“The Kissabel® brand is characterised by the surprise of crunching into an apple and discovering its unique flesh colour and amazing flavour," comments Ifored Chairman Bruno Essner. "The Ifored partners are preparing for the release of Kissabel apples all over the world in the next 5 years.  The exciting Kissabel range will attract and retain a new generation of consumer thanks to their distinctive sensory characteristics".

The first harvest of the varieties chosen to launch the Kissabel® brand will get under way in the coming weeks in Europe. As well as those presented today, additional red and pink flesh apples of various skin colours are also being assessed for future commercial production.

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.

Find out more about the debut Kissabel® apple brand at www.kissabel.com.

#ENDS#

To keep up to date with new innovations from Montague or interact with the team online, visit each online platform:

Facebook: @MontagueOfficial

Twitter: @MontagueAus

Instagram: @MontagueOfficial

Website: www.montague.com.au

 

For media information, recipes or high-resolution images, please contact:

Alexis Lalios

Phone: +61 3 9429 5251

Mobile: 0499 199 344

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.hchq.com.au