New Extra-Big Raspberries

Marina Gambardella, UC School of Agronomy and Forestry Engineering

Chile is one of the leading raspberry producers in the world following Serbia and Poland. Even though the livelihoods of thousands of families from Chimbarongo down to Los Ángeles rely on this crop, they usually grow a single variety that was imported to Chile from the United States some 30 years ago. Despite having adapted well to the Chilean climate, this variety yields small berries and low productivity. 

Catholic University teamed up with the Consortium Tecnológico de la Fruta on a quest to come up with new raspberry varieties that would be exceptional in terms of berry flavor and size and, of course, suited to the specific conditions in Chile.

The team began working on this project back in 2009 and has already secured the patents required to market the Santa Clara, Santa Catalina and Santa Teresa varieties, whose added value can be seen in their size and flavor which strikes the perfect balance between sweet and sour, giving farmers a competitive edge over the competition. 

Dr. Marina Gambardella from the UC School of Agronomy and Forestry Engineering was the lead researcher on this project which received funding from the Genetic Improvement program at Asoex’s Fruit Technology Consortium and Corfo. Licensed by the Fruit Consortium, these raspberries are currently being grown in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Australia.