One of New Zealand's latest commercial apple varieties is to be grown under licence in the UK.
Prevar, the industry joint venture set up to commercialise new pipfruit cultivars, has licensed two companies to grow and sell the new Smitten apple there.
Prevar chief executive Brett Ennis says it comes after successful trials in the UK.
"Both the UK licencees have had this particular variety under trial for three years so they've looked at the performance of the apple grown under UK conditions."
He says the UK retail outlets are very excited about the UK-grown fruit.
"So it made a lot of sense for these parties to dovetail and piggyback on the New Zealand export activity and enter into an arrangement with Prevar so that they have the licensing rights to grow, market and sell counter-seasonally in the UK and keep those supermarket shelves full."
Mr Ennis says a licensing arrangement has also been negotiated to grow the apple in the United States and a similar move is underway in Australia.
Smitten was bred by Plant and Food Research and licensed to grow in New Zealand in 2008. There are now almost 100,000 trees on orchards in Nelson and Hawke's Bay.
