Apples with appeal and taste

Tasman apple company Fashion Foods Ltd is showcasing two new apple varieties combining flavour and aesthetic.

Orchardist and apple breeder Bill Lynch said the visual appeal of the fruit was ‘‘a gift of nature’’, because his focus has been on improving flavour.

‘‘It’s the kiss of nature, really. It wasn’t on our shopping list, as such.

‘‘Apple breeders have gone for looks and neglected flavour for a long time, so we were the reverse, we thought we’d go for flavour, and we concentrated solely on improving the flavour.’’

He said the ‘‘stunning looks’’ of the new varieties, Mondaju and Berica, were an unintentional side-effect of his breeding.

‘‘There were several others that were attractive, probably even more attractive than the ones you see in the supermarkets.

‘‘But we had to go with the ones that had the combination of the visual appeal and the strong flavours.’’

Lynch said the consistent colour of the apples made them ‘‘the world’s prettiest fruits’’, with the added benefit of having ‘‘old fashioned tangy flavours’’.

The apples were showcased at the RaboDirect farmer’s market in Wellington on Wednesday.

‘‘With these two, one of them commenced about 20 years ago and the other one about 10 years ago, so they take a very long time,’’ Lynch said. ‘‘It sort of takes a lifetime to come up with something.’’

He said the long development time meant breeding new apples was ‘‘not an attractive commercial enterprise,’’ but he loved his work and now has had ‘‘very promising interest’’ in the apples from international companies.

Lynch said one of his motives was to reinvigorate apples as a healthy snack option.

‘‘They’re a great snack food but they need to be more attractive and tasty so that they can replace junk food.’’