Origin
Would you have thought that this fine pear is the result of over 20 years of work?
FRED’s story began in the year 2000 when agronomists at Agroscope Research Station in Conthey (CH) crossed the
tasty, fire blight-resistant pear variety ‘Harrow Sweet’ with the storable and attractive red-coloured variety ‘Verdi’. This
crossing fascinated the pear breeder and discoverer Danilo Christen from the beginning.
It started with the crossing of two pear varieties by hand pollination. The
breeders applied pollen from the father ‘Harrow Sweet’ to the flowers of
the mother variety ‘Verdi’. In autumn, the cross fruits were harvested
and then their seeds sown again. This gave the agronomists hundreds
of trees, each with a different genetic composition. Each of these
genotypes represented a potential new variety, but only one was to
prevail and pass the test of selection.
In 2009, after a year-long selection process, pear breeder
Danilo Christen chose this variety ‘CH 201’, which would
later receive the brand name FRED®. A total of 125
partners around the world, including agronomists,
consultants and nurseries, shared their knowledge and
experience and a unique pear grew.
After 5 years of testing, the selected young fruit finally received its own
protected variety status. The variety ‘CH201’ was soon registered under
the brand name “FRED®”. A moderately vigorous tree, a two-coloured
juicy fruit, an excellent taste with a balanced proportion of sweetness
and acidity. The perfect pear, it exists: it has everything to please and is
called FRED®.
