{"id":593228,"date":"2025-11-25T17:14:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T17:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/593228\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T17:14:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T17:14:15","slug":"tropical-blue-sets-early-pace-in-spain-and-morocco-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/593228\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropical Blue sets early pace in Spain and Morocco | News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New blueberry variety could be the earliest-producing blueberry in these countries, says GPG<\/p>\n<p class=\"picture\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tropical Blue GPG\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/144672_tropicalbluegpg_126058.jpg\"  loading=\"eager\" class=\"lazyloaded\" width=\"1156\" height=\"916\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Global Plant Genetics (GPG) says its early season low-chill blueberry variety, Tropical Blue, is drawing significant attention this season thanks to its exceptionally early performance in Spain and Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrowers in both regions are reporting harvest dates that are noticeably ahead of schedule \u2013 so early, in fact, that Tropical Blue may now be positioned as the earliest-producing blueberry variety currently grown in these key Mediterranean supply origins,\u201d said GPG director Jamie Petchell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis earliness is proving strategically important. With markets hungry for high-quality blueberries at the start of the Northern Hemisphere winter, Tropical Blue is allowing growers to capture strong early-season pricing while offering retailers a reliable supply of premium fruit at a time of limited availability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to GPG, early harvesting is not the only attribute that attracting growers to the new variety. \u201cBerries are consistently large, firm, and highly uniform, with a naturally sweet flavour profile that holds well throughout the harvest window,\u201d the company said. \u201cThese characteristics make the variety well suited for both domestic programmes and long-distance export markets where firmness and shelf life are essential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Petchell highlighted yield potential as another defining strength. At just 2.5 years of age, commercial plantings in Spain are forecast to deliver approximately 6kg of Class 1 fruit per plant this season \u2013 a notable result for a young plant and a clear indicator of its long-term commercial viability, he said. As these plantings mature, growers anticipate even stronger performance, further enhancing the variety\u2019s return on investment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith its combination of ultra-early harvest timing, high fruit quality and strong yield potential, Tropical Blue is emerging as a standout option for producers seeking to secure an early foothold in the global blueberry market. For many growers, it represents not only an agronomic advantage but a meaningful commercial opportunity,\u201d Petchell said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New blueberry variety could be the earliest-producing blueberry in these countries, says GPG Global Plant Genetics (GPG) says&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-593228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115611466126172996","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}