Over the last twelve months here at Jupiter we’ve seen many fantastic developments across the business, from the planting of new varieties globally to the launch of an innovative snack pack from our prepared fruit line.
Here are a few highlights from 2021:
Africa Investment Conference
In a busy start to the year, our Joint MD Yvonne presented as part of the ‘Africa Investment Conference’, in conjunction with The UK Department for International Trade. Yvonne disclosed our continued technological investments in South Africa and highlighted the importance of traceability.
Listen as Yvonne discusses more as part of our podcast series.
Exciting- Greek plum project
In a first for us here at Jupiter, we were pleased to announce that we are trialling six new varieties of South African plums in co-operation with Nestos our kiwi partner in Greece.
We have planted our new plum varieties in Kavala, a region that is not traditionally known as a stonefruit area, however there is much excitement due to the success of a late variety plum called Angelino, renowned for its yellow flesh and well-balanced taste.
Our trading arm progression
As part of our vision to be the most transparent company in fresh produce with a commitment to programmed supply from our own global production, we made changes to the way that we succeed with the trading side of our business.
In May 2021 we announced that JLM Produce Ltd, in whom we have had the majority share in since 2016, will now also progress to managing the trading arm of the Jupiter Group, continuing on from historically undertaking the wholesale side of our business.
New variety grape pioneers!
Our pioneering test block in Kavala, Greece has been planted with five innovative ARRA™ varieties.
Produced from the Grapa breeding programme, these new grape varieties have improved characteristics when compared to the more traditional grapes found in the region.
Jupiter Group and Babybel® launch snack pack
Back in June we were delighted to reveal that we joined forces with the UK’s No.1 snacking cheese brand, Babybel® to launch an exciting new addition to their lineup, a Babybel Light Cheese, Apple & Grapes snack pack.
Our innovative 75g new snack pack launched in the food-to-go fixtures of Tesco stores nationwide, and is available as a standalone item or as part of Tesco’s popular meal deal.
Our Indian ARRA 15 (ARRA Sweeties™)
In a recent article with Fresh Plaza, our Head of Sales Gareth Wilcock discussed our very first commercial volumes of ARRA 15 in January 2021 and shared that we expect volumes to more than double this season, with quantities expanding exponentially over the next 5-6 years.
GWF Board of Directors
In July of 2021 we were really pleased to share that Jupiter Group’s Head of Marketing, Kirsty Fleetwood joined the Global Women Fresh Board of Directors. GWF look to create a positive change in the global community through ‘connecting, inspiring and empowering women in the fresh produce industry’.
A record-breaking week in South Africa
In the month that saw records smashed at the Tokyo Olympic games, we were thrilled to share that we broke our own personal best; beating the previous orange packing record on our South African farms.
In an infographic we shared the statistics behind our biggest ever packing week that includes almost 12 million oranges being processed from our own production in Limpopo.
Don’t miss a thing…
You can keep up with of all of the latest Jupiter news by checking out the blog on our website.