Culdevco bridges the gap between scientific research and the commercial success of SA-bred cultivars for both South African and international fruit growers. Culdevco is the commercialisation and marketing agent for the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), transforming innovative genetics into resilient, profitable, climate-smart cultivars.
South Africa’s deciduous fruit industry needs more than new cultivars; it demands trusted pathways from research to resilient orchards.
As Culdevco’s general manager, Mishkaat Anderson leads the commercialisation of ARC-bred varieties, building on the company’s 20-year legacy in varietal commercialisation to provide producers with climate-resilient cultivars.
From Culdevco’s work with world-renowned scientists, independent evaluators, plant improvement entities, and trade partners, Anderson stresses that selecting the best varieties and testing them across various regions to ensure our cultivars are well adapted requires close teamwork. Getting the full picture means starting with Culdevco’s process for advancing varieties to ready-to-plant status.
Building varieties for profit and resilience
Anderson says, “We identify these selections and protect them from an intellectual property point of view. We test them under all commercial conditions and build a strong pathway so that growers can adopt them with confidence.”
Culdevco’s framework is built on three core pillars:
- Profitability: Providing the SA producer with carefully selected cultivars that drive strong market demand and reliable export performance.
- Adaptability: Our South African-developed varieties thrive across the country’s diverse climates, delivering consistent yields region to region.
- Sustainability & Longevity: Our cultivars are bred to be naturally resilient to local growing conditions. They offer disease resistance, lower production costs, and strong trees that support sustainable, long-term operations.
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She adds that these cultivars are designed to withstand supply chain challenges from port to retailer, helping growers achieve higher packouts and become more resilient and future-ready.
Standout cases are stone fruit selections Ruby Sun, African Delight, Ruby Star, and Cheeky pear, which earn acclaim for superb taste, visual appeal, and commercial draw, evidence of effective breeding-to-business flow.
This success flows naturally from close teamwork with research partners.
Partnering from lab to orchard
“There cannot be a silo approach; our collaboration with the ARC is very close,” Anderson says. The ARC handles science, breeding, genetics, and innovation, while Culdevco manages market pathways, grower trials, and global plans.
This partnership ensures promising selections from research facilities become practical, reliable cultivars that growers can plant with confidence. It’s a hand-in-hand approach from the scientific world to the orchard.
“We translate scientific potential into practical, profitable solutions for the deciduous fruit industry,” Anderson concludes.
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