The variety, developed for warm climates, stands out for its resilience, quality, and reliable performance

STELLAR™ (varietal name “HOT81A1”), a new apple variety specifically bred for warm and temperate climates, has won the Silver Award at the SIVAL 2026 Varietal Innovation Competition, held in Angers (France). This international recognition highlights the strong potential of this variety under demanding production conditions.

The SIVAL Innovation Competition rewards new varieties that deliver tangible benefits in terms of sustainability, productivity, economic value for growers, and commercial relevance.

Morgan Rogers, CEO of VentureFruit, noted that this award reflects the robustness of the STELLAR™ development program and the collaboration with expert partners to address production challenges in increasingly warm climates as a result of climate change.

A resilient and reliable variety

At IRTA, together with our partners in the Hot Climate Partnership, we have worked on the development of STELLAR™ to ensure it delivers reliable early harvests under extreme heat conditions. This variety tolerates high summer temperatures without compromising fruit color or quality, avoiding sunburn and internal damage.

Harvested 7–10 days earlier than Gala, STELLAR™ combines early maturity with excellent flavor and resistance to diseases and pests, while maintaining consistent yields. This allows growers to anticipate harvests and optimize marketing without sacrificing quality or profitability.

A collaborative model

Following a rigorous global selection process, IFO was appointed as the main license holder for STELLAR™, with Dalival responsible for tree production and international distribution. Morgan Rogers emphasized that this collaboration ensures the variety reaches the right orchards at the right time, adapting to growers’ needs.

Florian Guidat, Development Project Director at IFO Dalival, added: “The SIVAL award highlights the importance of innovation in addressing climate change and providing practical solutions for growers. It also recognizes the collective effort behind STELLAR™, from research through to commercialization.”

The STELLAR™ journey combines scientific research with data-driven commercial decision-making, backed by more than 20 years of development within the Hot Climate Partnership, in which IRTA collaborates with the Bioeconomy Science Institute (New Zealand), Fruit Futur (Catalonia), and VentureFruit.

The variety is initially being launched in Europe and selected international markets.