Spain’s Institute for Research and Technology in Agri-Food (IRTA) is launching a new apple variety this week at Fruit Logistica 2023.

The variety is capable of thriving in high temperatures, allowing this cultivar to easily adapt to less favorable climatic conditions.

HOT84A1 is the result of more than twenty years of research conducted under the Hot Climate Partnership (HCP), a variety improvement program initiated in 2002 by the Spanish entity.

Tutti, the apple’s commercial name, was evaluated at IRTA's experimental fields in Mollerussa (Lleida) and La Tallada del Empordà (Girona), where temperatures can reach more than 40ºC (104ºF) during the summer.

The HCP seeks to produce new varieties that are "more adapted to increasingly hot summers, and that meet the needs of producers, marketers and consumers," said Joan Bonany, a specialist in IRTA's Fruit Growing program.

The program stems from the demand of the fruit producing sector of Catalonia that, due to the climatic conditions of the area, has experienced great difficulties in achieving optimum quality in terms of color, texture and aroma for their pear and apple crops.

The initiative also has the support of the main apple and pear producers in Catalonia (Nufri, Actel, Fruits de Ponent and IGP Poma de Girona), as well as the participation of FruitFutur, a research center based in New Zealand.

Currently, the HCP is the only program at a global level that is focused on producing seed fruit adapted to the high temperatures that are increasingly characteristic of summers in Europe and the world.

The commercialization of this new product will be in charge of the company VentureFruit, which aims to take the Tutti apple to an international level.