Woolworths_Taste__January_2019

Below, from left: Jacques, Jannie Marais, SA’s rep for exclusive Woolies plum supplier The Custom Plum Company

and Cleo Jacobs, technical manager at Fruits Unlimited, inspect the orchard; Flavour Fall plums headed to Woolies.

hybridbetweenaplumandcherrywas
createdin2008byaCalifornianfruit
breeding company, Zaiger’s Inc. Genetics –
awinneramongliterallytensofthousands
of varieties that they carefully crossbred in
that year alone.
Justletthatsinkin.Ittakesat leastten
yearsbetweenidentifyingasuccessful
varietyinCaliforniaandbeingable
tobuyitofftheshelfhere.Aswith
allinterspecificplumsimportedby
TheCustomPlumCompanyfrom
Zaiger’s, the cherry plum budwood

(young branches prepared for grafting
onto the rootstock of another plant) had
tospendtwoyearsinquarantinebefore
thenewlygraftedtreesspentoverfive
yearsgrowinginTheCustomPlum
Company’stesttrialblocks.Here,the
fruitwasroutinelytestedfortaste,shelf
lifeandstorage.Onlyoncetheplums
were deemed commercially viable –
anddelicious,ofcourse–werethey
plantedatBoschendalin2016.Andeven
then it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing,
accordingtoJacques.“Everystepwas
an unbelievable challenge because this
productissouniqueandnew.Noone
elseinSouthAfricahasfarmedit.Ihad
tolearnhowthetreesgrew,howthefruit
grew,whattheylikedanddidn’tlike...
It challenged my 20 years of farming
experiencealot.”
But Jacques maintains the blood and
sweatinvolvedincultivatingplums–
especiallytrickynewcomerslikethe
cherryplum–isworthit.“Plumsare
very labour intensive, but this suits
Boschendal’s vision around job creation.
Forgrapes,youneedonefruitpickerfor
everyfivehectares,butwithplumsyou
needapickerperhectare.So,forevery
hectareofplumswe’veplanted,we’ve
createdapermanentjob.”At over 140
hectares, it all adds up.

THE MORNING’S NIPPY AIRhas made

way for unseasonable mugginess by the

timeJacquesandJannieareseatedin

an air-conditioned boardroom at the

headquarters of Fruits Unlimited in

Paarl. Joining them is Fruits Unlimited’s

GM,HansMuylaert-Gelein,forwhat

isaweeklydateinallthreeoftheir

diaries: a taste evaluation of the range

of plums currently “in development”

byTheCustomPlumCompany.These

evaluations see the men devour sliver

aftersliverofpluminsearchofthatholy

grailofhighacidityandhighsugar.

Theconferencetableiscoveredwith

cardboardtraysfilledwithwhatmust

be hundreds of plums and each of the

men is armed with a penknife and plate.

“Jacques has been

afarmerfor20years

and has never had

a December holiday;

he’s been married

fortenyearsand

stillhasn’t gone

on honeymoon”

UPSIDE-DOWN STICKY PLUM CAKE

TASTE JAN/FEB 2019 103