Freshmax Australia has another exciting citrus IP season underway with its latest new variety, Tangold Seedless™ already gaining great traction at retail.
Tangold Seedless™ is a seedless mandarin that is easy-to-peel, deliciously sweet, and has a smooth rind that is an intensely deep orange colour. Originally developed by the University of California, Tangold Seedless™ has become known worldwide for its high-quality eating characteristics. Today, the variety has been widely planted throughout Australia as a direct reflection of the increasing consumer demand for high quality, truly seedless, easy-to-peel mandarins.
“We are thrilled to see the first commercial volumes of Tangold™ hitting shelves this season. Tangold™ joins Sumo Citrus® and Gold Nugget™ as the latest of our three seedless, easy-peel mandarin IP varieties grown here in Australia. We take great confidence from immensely positive feedback already received surrounding flavour and seedlessness. It reassures us that we are on-track to deliver an improved eating experience for end consumers.” says William Snell, GM Sales, Freshmax AU.
Freshmax’s IP & Commercialisation Manager, Andrew Maughan, has long foreseen the potential that Tangold Seedless™ represents. “In the recent years, we have seen an acceleration in plantings and therefore expect to see an increased volume of production in the coming 2-3 years.” Crop forecasts will see significant volumes of the fruit ranging in multiple major retailers across multiple states. “Over the next five years Tangold Seedless™ is expected to become a significant player in both domestic and export markets” states Maughan.
Growers of Tangold Seedless™ mandarins are also very confident about the success of this variety in Australia. “Tangold is a delicious new mandarin with superior fruit flavour and it is seedless wherever it is grown. From our perspective it is the best piece of fruit that’s come along for years for citrus growers” said Matthew Cottrell- Cottrell Farms, Mildura
Freshmax’s marketing and promotion plans for Tangold Seedless™ are also showing great promise this year. Tangold Seedless™ campaign marks the initiation of the brand’s future, with targeted brand awareness activities in key metro cities across Australia. “2018 marks the first year of campaigning for Tangold Seedless™ with an initial objective of targeted brand awareness drives. It will elucidate the key characteristics of the product and educate consumers through the path to purchase” says Sona Padman, Campaign Manager – Freshmax Australia.
“Over the past 5 years, our Australian citrus brand strategy has been predominantly domestic-focused, however with Tangold Seedless™ volumes on the rise, we are now looking forward to weaving a global branding and marketing strategy into this framework” Padman adds.
With the Australian Citrus landscape continuing to see rapid growth in exports, Tangold Seedless™ will be no exception. The team at Valleyfresh (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Freshmax Group) are already gearing up to deliver trial volumes of Tangold Seedless™ to multiple markets in the coming years, with great excitement already mounting, “You only have to eat one to know that so many of our markets will fight for access to this delicious fruit” says Saxon Call, Export Manager – Valleyfresh Global.
Intellectual Property has formed a cornerstone of the Freshmax Group for many years now, and with Simon Gillett at the helm of their dedicated IP subsidiary – Innovar™ – their momentum is not slowing in this space. “We are always working with multiple breeding programs from around the world, exploring the possibilities and potential for each of our core categories,” says Gillett. “These journeys are often years, if not decades, in the making; so it is great to see an IP variety like Tangold Seedless™ come to volume.”