Malling™ Fruits, the marketing brand for fruit varieties bred at NIAB EMR in Kent, saw record sales of its world-leading fruit varieties in 2021, with over 94 million plants sold.
Sales of strawberry plants headed the tally with the industry-leading June-bearer Malling™ Centenary reaching over 68 million plants alone. Raspberry variety Malling™ Bella® saw sales grow by over 50% on the previous year’s plantings.
“It is clear that Malling™ Fruits varieties are raising varietal benchmarks and becoming ever more popular amongst fruit growers, marketing desks and retailers,” commented Will Roberts, Business Development Manager at NIAB EMR. “The quality and yield performance of these varieties is being recognised internationally and we have wide-ranging and high expectations for the future uptake across Europe and beyond.”
In 2021, Malling™ Fruits launched Malling™ Ace and Malling™ Vitality, an ever-bearer and a June-bearer, with both varieties expecting to become industry standards in the next five years when plant propagation can meet the current demand. Sales of Malling™ Ace are already being taken up to 2025, with growers being urged to contact their propagators earlier to ensure future supplies.
Sales of plants under the Malling™ Fruits brand is expected to top 100 million plants in 2022 with strong growth in both the strawberry and raspberry varieties.
NIAB EMR has breeding programmes covering strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, apples, and fruit tree root stocks, with a long pipeline of potential varieties in trial in several northern hemisphere countries.