The Lubera Chef® berry concept is being expanded: Autumn Chef® and Summer Chef® are getting a gourmet colleague in the form of the Twotimer Chef® variety, a double-bearing raspberry. And last but not least, the range is being expanded with a new blackberry variety, the super-sweet, large-fruited classic blackberry Blackstars Chef® – with a very long harvesting period.
Concepts = old wine in new bottles?
The gimmicky concepts of recent years have become downright arbitrary. Ultimately, a nice slogan, a nice name with a colourful label seems to be enough – and the concept is complete. Of course, reseller customers on the garden centre and chain side demand the lowest possible prices, and so, under the guise of concepts and pseudo-brands, the same plants and varieties are sold everywhere, many of which were bred 40-60 years ago. Ultimately, the supposed secret recipe is this: old wine in new bottles.
The only question is how long the value chain can withstand this: end customers see no differences, and chains and garden centres are also unable to differentiate themselves (and sometimes get lost in questions about plant quality that have nothing to do with the success of cultivation in the garden). Plant producers are completely comparable – and are caught in a downward spiral that increasingly devalues the product.
Lubera Edibles: new, improved varieties as the basis for genuine concepts with added value
New varieties are not inherently valuable or more valuable than their predecessors. They must offer significant progress in at least one of the criteria that are decisive for the home gardening market: better taste, easier cultivation, greater resistance, diversity, and surprise (e.g., ornamental value).
The problem with edible plants in the home gardening market is that the criteria that are decisive for breeders are only seen by the end consumer in the garden, while only the bare plant is available in the intermediate trade. End customers can only check what they have purchased in their garden at harvest time, one to two years later. This time lag makes it possible to sell old wine in new bottles relatively unchallenged for a long time – but the moment of truth comes when the fruit from the supermarket is better than the berries harvested in one's own garden. Or when berry cultivation is abandoned as too laborious because easier-to-cultivate varieties have not found their way into the range.
Lubera Chef® berries: the best-tasting raspberries and blackberries. Period.
Taste and aroma are certainly among the relevant criteria we apply when selecting varieties for home gardens. However, taste must share importance with other criteria: resistance, ease of cultivation, special characteristics such as ornamental value or other surprising effects (e.g., subtropical or tropical plants that can suddenly be cultivated in our climate).
For our Chef® range, we have simply prioritised taste and aroma and, while not eliminating the other criteria, have downgraded them slightly. As a result, we can present a range that is truly unique in taste, where the fruits simply taste better and, above all, more sustainable.
As a rule, new varieties are tested in our breeding programme for 4–6 years; the Chef varieties were rated 7 or 8 (out of a possible 9 points) in at least 3–4 of these test years, meaning they were always among the 5–10% of the best-tasting variety candidates.
What exactly are taste and aroma in raspberries and blackberries?
At this point, perhaps a brief digression on taste and aroma in raspberries and blackberries is in order. In any case, contrary to common usage, the two criteria of taste and aroma must be strictly separated.
We perceive taste on the tongue when the fruit juice hits the taste buds on the tongue. Essentially, what we perceive here is the sugar-acid ratio, which may be more or less intense. The ratio of these two criteria forms the basis of our overall assessment on the sour-sweet axis. The intensity of the taste experience is determined by the absolute level of acidity and, above all, the sugar content (Brix). Taste also includes perceptions such as bitter, salty, and umami.
When it comes to raspberries, consumers generally expect a sweet taste complemented by a hint of acidity and a tangy effect. Bitterness has no place here. With blackberries, sweetness is even more important because previous varieties were often too sour and, above all, inconsistently sweet. A slight hint of bitterness is permissible or even desirable, as with a good red wine.
In contrast to taste, aroma is perceived retronasally, i.e., during and after eating, via the nose. The typical raspberry aroma is strongly influenced by a volatile chemical odorant, raspberry ketone (rheosmin). This is also abundant in raspberry yoghurts and raspberry syrups. I often detect hints of vanilla and what I perceive to be violet scents.
Blackberries are a little more powerful. The sweetness of ripe fruit is enhanced by a caramel-like aroma (probably due to the fragrance furaneol), which indicates full ripeness. This aroma association is probably also responsible for our liking of blackberries served warm as a sauce (on vanilla ice cream). Linalool is responsible for floral components. For me, however, the dark, slightly bitter undertone, or rather overpowering scent of wood and earth, is more important. Blackberries are more diverse and complex in aroma than raspberries.
The following comparison is still one of the best for me: a raspberry is a light white wine, at most a smooth rosé. Blackberries are similar to a heavy and aromatic red wine.
A short profile of the Chef® berries
Floricane raspberry 'Summer Chef®'
Picture: Summer raspberry 'Summer Chef®'
- Sweet basic flavour (12-13 Brix) with a light and tangy acidity, extremely fruity
- Remarkably long-lasting raspberry aroma, surpasses all other summer varieties, including Tulameen in our tests
- Thornless
- Ripens in the gap between early summer varieties and autumn varieties, in July
Primocane raspberry 'Autumn Chef®'
Picture: floricane raspberry 'Autumn Chef®'
- One of the best autumn raspberries in terms of taste and aroma
- Distinctly sweet (9-11 Brix), with a lively acidity and a long-lasting aroma (vanilla, raspberry flavour)
- Thornless
- Medium ripening time on this year's canes from mid to late August
- With this variety, it is possible to leave some late-growing canes standing, which will then bear fruit in June of the second year
'Twotimer Chef®' twice-bearing raspberry
Picture: 'Twotimer Chef®' twice-bearing raspberry
- Typical Twotimer, long canes, thornless, 180–240 cm – large to very large, 5–8 g, roundish, fleshy
- Extremely intense aroma: a combination of intense fruitiness (distinct acidity with high Brix value) and long-lasting raspberry aroma
- Bears fruit on two-year-old canes from mid-June, rather late; on this year's canes, on the top 20–30% of the cane length from the third week of August to the end of September
Aroma Blackberry 'Blackstars*** Chef®'
Picture: Aroma Blackberry 'Blackstars*** Chef®'
- Begins ripening earlier than most classic blackberries, at the end of June
- Consistently sweet, even when harvested early, 12–15 Brix, one of the sweetest blackberries, low acidity
- Very slight woody and green tones, which give the sweet basic flavour more depth
- Large, firm fruits, up to 12 g at the beginning, 10 g on average
- Long ripening period from the end of June to mid-September
Four months of berry enjoyment: the ripening periods of the Chef® varieties
The Chef® range allows you to enjoy berries from June to the end of September.
- June: Leave a few late-growing canes of 'Twotimer Chef®', as they produce the earliest fruits for tasting.
- Mid/end of June to mid/end of August: the late summer variety 'Summer Chef®'
- Second week of August to mid-September: 'Autumn Chef®'
- End of August to end of September: 'Twotimer Chef®', autumn harvest on this year's canes
- End of June to mid-September: long-lasting harvest of the new blackberry variety 'Blackstars*** Chef®'
Use in production planning and marketing by production companies
But how can Lubera Chef® berries be used in marketing? There are two levels to consider: marketing to end customers (BtoC) and B2B marketing to resellers.
B2C marketing: end customers
Here, the focus must be on the added value of these varieties: their aroma and taste. The difference between these and supermarket berries, which are picked unripe, only slightly pink, and then a week later in the supermarket taste like berries at best, but hardly like raspberries, should definitely be emphasised.
The Chef® varieties have been selected not for their yield or transportability, but for their taste and aroma. Perhaps the two components of the berry eating experience could also be addressed graphically here: the taste, ultimately the interplay of sweetness and acidity (possibly with a slight woody bitterness), and then the after-effects in the nose, the aroma.
The continuous harvest from June to September is also a key argument, not for the individual varieties, but for the combination of Lubera-Chef® varieties: they could also be offered as a bundle.
B2B marketing: purchasers, garden centres, chains
Alongside strawberries, raspberries are the only soft fruit that can be price-sensitive. But that is precisely why it makes sense to highlight criteria other than price. Lubera Chef® aroma and flavour varieties also allow for clear differentiation from the standard range. The Chef® varieties can be presented permanently as a higher-quality alternative, or as a limited-time special offer: a summer range of ‘better’ varieties, or a renewed berry range after the holiday season, featuring beautiful, fresh plants.
But the reverse is also possible: at the beginning of the sales season in the spring, there is a moment when demand, the appetite for plants, exceeds supply; here, too, a special treat, a special offer for a better dining experience in the garden, could be a good fit.
There is also the possibility of combining them with other exceptionally tasty edible plants, such as vegetables, fruit, blueberries, and shrub berries.
When talking to resellers, the additional harvest of the main varieties could also be a suitable selling point: a continuous berry harvest from June to September.
Chef®Beeren - Technical comparison of varieties
| Variety | Species | Harvests per year | Ripening | Fruit size | Taste | Aroma | Thorns |
Special features |
| Summer Chef® | Raspberry (floricane) | once | July | medium | sweet, slightly tangy | very intense, long lasting |
only bumps |
closes the gap between early floricane and primocane varieties |
| Autumn Chef® | Raspberry (primocane) | once | Mid Aug. – Sept. | medium | clearly sweet, balanced | a bit of vanila, typical raspberry | few | very aromatic promocane variety, easy to harvest |
| Twotimer Chef® | Raspberry (Twotimer) | twice | June + Aug.–Sept. | big to very big (5–8 g) | fruity with nice acidity | extremley intense | no | long harvesting period, high aroma density |
| Blackstars*** Chef® | Blackberry (floricane) | once | End of Juni – Sept. | very big (Ø 10 g) | very sweet, only a hint of acitity | deep, slightly spicy | no | early ripening, stable sweetness even when harvested early |
