Spar and Frutura test cultivation of rare apple varieties

Spar and fruit supplier Frutura are testing the commercial cultivation of two nearly forgotten apple varieties, with the aim of bringing them back to Austrian supermarket shelves, ORF reported. The project was presented on Wednesday at a Frutura trial site near Großwilfersdorf in Styria.

Austria has around 2,000 apple varieties, but only about 10 are available on the market. The idea to cultivate other, almost forgotten varieties emerged in 2023 at Spar’s so-called Bee Council. Spar deputy chief executive Markus Kaser said the project was intended to support biodiversity and offer customers an unusual food, rather than serve as a publicity stunt. More diverse growing systems could also make supply more reliable, he said.

Working with Arche Noah, an organisation dedicated to preserving and sharing crop diversity, Frutura selected the Ilzer Rosenapfel and Tiroler Falchs Gulderling. The Ilzer Rosenapfel, also known locally as Ilzer Weinler, has long been grown in eastern Styria, often for cider but also as an eating apple. The Falchs Gulderling may no longer grow as a tree in the wild and is thought to survive only as grafting material.

The first harvest this year amounted to about one tonne from roughly 2,150 trees. The Ilzer Rosenapfel is now found only sporadically in traditional orchards. Its grafting material was bought from the Wagersbach variety conservation garden, while Frutura sourced Falchs Gulderling mother trees from the Laimburg research centre in South Tyrol.

Frutura managing director Manfred Hohensinner said cultivating old varieties was demanding because their genetics and growth patterns differed from those of modern varieties. The trial plot, currently about 0.7 hectares, is due to expand to one hectare.

Frutura managing director Katrin Hohensinner-Häupl said the Falchs Gulderling was large and deep red when ripe, while the Ilzer Rosenapfel was smaller and less vividly coloured. Both had distinctive flavours that reminded her of “apples from childhood”. The trees have so far produced relatively few apples, and the companies are now assessing how well the fruit stores and how its taste changes over time.

Only a small quantity from the first harvest is expected to reach shops, possibly at Spar’s Schottentor branch in Vienna; most will be distributed internally at Frutura and Spar. The apples are expected to cost somewhat more than other varieties, though Kaser said they would remain affordable. They are unlikely to become mass-market products. Frutura’s Gottfried Dampfhofer said the Falchs Gulderling grew relatively quickly and ripened late, while the Ilzer Rosenapfel tree was more vigorous and awkward in shape and needed time to reach physiological balance.