EHIME, Feb. 12 — Full-scale sales of Beni Princess, a new citrus fruit variety developed by Ehime Prefecture, will start in March.
The Ehime Prefectural Government hopes to promote the variety as the Beni collection, together with the highly popular citrus varieties Beni Madonna and Beni Kanpei.
Beni Princess was created by combining Ehime-grown Beni Madonna and Kanpei. It took Ehime Prefecture 20 years to develop the new variety from cross-breeding to full-scale sales.
It is characterized by the jelly-like texture of Beni Madonna and the rich sweetness of Kanpei.
At a debut event held in Tokyo on Feb. 11, Ehime Governor Tokihiro Nakamura said, “Beni Princess has all the good features of its parent breeds. By promoting it as part of the (Beni citrus) series, we are confident that the position of Ehime as the citrus kingdom will be established both in name and reality.”
According to the prefectural government, the sales of Beni Princess will start on March 1 or later, and is expected to be marketed until late March mainly in Ehime as well as in the Keihin and Kansai regions.
Since it is the time of the year when citrus fruits are scarce in the market, the new variety will be promoted as gifts to celebrate such occasions as graduating from or getting into schools.
Beni Princess, a new citrus variety noted for jelly-like texture and rich sweetness