Produce marketer The Freshmax Group will now be giving even greater attention to its intellectual property (IP) business through the formation of Innovar.

Innovar is the company's own intellectual property commercialization business and will allow the group to focus all of its IP resources within a single structure.

In a release Freshmax said the entity would remain focused on the licensing of new varieties, brand development, production planning and delivery to market.

The group currently manages some established properties in New Zealand and Australia, including apple brands Mahana Red, Kanzi, and Modi, as well as the unique kiwiberry.

Innovar will be run by new variety manager in New Zealand Rene Hylkema, Australian IP manager Andrew Maughan, and North America-based global licensing manager Simon Gillett.

"We continue to see huge value being delivered through the control and management of new varieties and brands in our major categories," Gillett said in the release.

"This value directly benefits our suppliers as well as our customers and is only set to increase in the future."

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