The success of Bravo as Westerm Australia's most popular apple export could pave the way for more varieties
The success of a unique variety of West Australian apple that in three years has become the state's biggest apple export could see further varieties soon hit supermarket shelves.
WA's unique Bravo apples, known as Soluna overseas, continue to gain popularity in international markets including the Middle East and Asia.
The industry hopes to produce 50,000 tonnes of the apples annually by 2035 and more varieties are in the pipeline.
In a state that prides itself on its big resources and agriculture sectors, what role can the humble apple play?
If you ask the growers and researchers behind the Bravo apple, they'll list a magnitude of reasons to explain the need for innovation.
Aesthetics and health benefits aside, it comes down to staying competitive in a global market, while adapting to climate change.
"Every year farmers are really trying to figure out how am I going to manage the season," CEO of WA Farm Direct Jenny Mercer said.
"This has given farmers the opportunity just to stay in the game.
"Because this is bred here in Manjimup, it's naturally suited to the endemic condition of Australia. It doesn't make it any easier, but it gives us half a chance."
Ms Mercer said when coupled with a consumer market that has become accustomed to new, exciting products — the standard, sometimes floury apple, just doesn't cut it.
"We're always looking for better tasting, better growing, better eating varieties," Ms Mercer said.
"That apple really represents decades of innovation."
WA's advantage in the apple market is the Manjimup Horticulture Research Institute, which is home to the national apple breeding program.
It was the birthplace of the Bravo and the iconic Pink Lady variety.
"A lot of people in Western Australia don't know that fact, but in Manjimup we're really, very, very proud of it," chair of apple cooperative Fruit West, Ann Lyster, said.
Pink Lady was exported from WA to the UK in the late 1990s and early 2000s, which provided a solid return to growers and lifted the Australian industry.
But when international producers entered the market, Australia was priced out.
Then came the Bravo apple, which was planted in commercial quantities in Manjimup a decade ago.
In comparison to other global producers, what comes out of Manjimup is "tiny," but the popularity of the product appears to be thriving.
"We're really punching above our weight. It's an amazing achievement," Ms Lyster said.
Bravo apples were planted in commercial quantities in Manjimup eight years ago, and have been sold in Australian supermarkets for several seasons.
In the latest development, Bravo apples have been juiced and sold as a drink to utilise the harvest and tap into a whole new market at home and abroad.
The profitability of the Bravo internationally looks promising — in just three years the dollar value on sales to export markets has grown to $1.7 million per year.
The Manjimup research station will introduce more varieties to the market in the near future.
"In the breeding program, there's new apples definitely there, that show great promise," Ms Lyster said.
"But they'll be a few years away yet."
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