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Redeva Wins Prestigious Award at Grower of the Year

Redeva, the soft fruit breeding research and development division of Redbridge Holdings and sister company to Redbridge Worldfresh and The Summerfruit Company, has won the prestigious "Science into Practice" accolade at the Grower of the Year Awards, held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London recently.

The awards, which attracted more than 700 delegates, provide a focus for the horticultural industry, bringing together leading growers, suppliers and their customers to champion best practice and highlight the hard work, innovation and vision of businesses and individuals in the sector.

Based at Dundee Technology Park, Redeva was founded in 2002 with a simple aim - to develop soft fruit varieties with enhanced flavour, offering consistent products throughout the year, which consumers enjoy eating. All Redeva's breeding is done by hand, with no GM techniques and the company has worked extensively to develop, test and finally release new soft fruit varieties to the public.

A key success area for Redeva is speeding up the breeding process to such an extent that soft fruit Arosa. These are just a few examples of the multitude of development and trial work undertaken by the company.

The 'Science into Practice' award recognises growers who have successfully used new technology and applied research to develop a commercial business. Redeva uses the latest computer-controlled glasshouse facilities for raising and trialling seedlings, while the testing programme also makes use of the most advanced trialling facilities and technology.varieties like the new day-neutral strawberry 'Susana', go through the breeding programme in only five years, compared to the nine to 14 years that it can normally take. In Egypt this year the company planted 120 acres of this variety. Four additional new day-neutral strawberry selections from the Redeva breeding programme look set for further trials towards commercial release of one or two in 2006, having performed outstandingly well in Egypt.

Other successes include the 'Brice' raspberry, which is undergoing an accelerated propagation programme for commercial production and there are also three other promising raspberry selections undergoing further trials this season. Redeva also undertakes trials of other breeding programme selections and have in the past few years had exclusive UK commercial production of the Italian varieties Elsinore and

Irene Geoghegan, strawberry development manager for Redeva, accepted the prestigious award and commented: "I would like to thank the Redeva team and everyone who has so greatly contributed to the company's success from Redbridge Worldfresh, The Summerfruit Company, their network of growers who trial our material to the supermarket technical and buying teams and their collaborators all around the world. Redeva is the brainchild of Redbridge Holdings' chief executive Denis Punter and Douglas Kemp, a vision that is seeing great industry success and reaping many rewards. We are delighted to have been recognised by our industry peers for this outstanding award."