The University of California, Davis, has reached new agreements to license more than a dozen of its world-renowned strawberry varieties to growers in countries across the world.

Thanks to the agreement, nurseries and fruit growers in Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East can now access all available varieties developed by the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program.

California is the largest producer of strawberries in the United States. In 2023, the state grew 16,303 hectares of strawberries, which resulted in a total yield of over a billion kg of fruit, or 66,355 kg per hectare. 

Unsurprisingly, strawberry plant varieties developed at UC Davis produce about 60% of all strawberries consumed worldwide.

The university states that UK-based Global Plant Genetics, or GPG, will add 15 legacy varieties of UC Davis strawberry plants to its existing portfolio in China, South America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

GPG has been a UC Davis master licensee since 2018 and oversees licensing of a dozen of the more recently developed UC Davis varieties in those markets.

Fresa Fortaleza, or F2, is the new master licensee for the legacy varieties in Mexico. Since 2020, the San Diego-based company has been the master licensee in Mexico for the more recently developed UC Davis varieties.

The new agreements cover The European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay, China, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Turkey.

Last year, UC Davis severed ties with Eurosemillas S.A, which was the master licensee for older UC Davis strawberry varieties in countries outside the United States.