Japanese startup Culta wants to bring its premium strawberry model to new markets. It combines data-assisted breeding, contract growers and branded fruit sales. The agronomic results cited by the company have yet to be verified internationally.
Founded in 2017 by Shuhei Noaki, Culta develops proprietary varieties and licenses growers to cultivate them. According to its founder, the company works with 36 contract growers: it provides agronomic support, buys back the entire crop and sells branded fruit in Japan and Southeast Asia. The model is described in an interview by Elaine Watson published by AgFunderNews.
How Culta speeds up breeding
Culta analyses genomic data and observable plant traits to identify the most promising parents for crossing. It also uses controlled environments to increase the number of breeding cycles: according to the company, it can complete three strawberry cycles a year, compared with one under conventional outdoor conditions in Japan. The method relies on crossing and selection, without genetic modification or gene editing.
Culta says this combination makes breeding at least five times faster and could reduce the development of a strawberry variety from about ten years to two. These are company estimates: the interview does not present independent verification of the timelines.
SAKURA DROPS and the premium market
Its first commercialised variety, SAKURA DROPS, was developed in part to cope with early spring heat. Noaki says it can be shipped until June, while the commercial season for other Japanese strawberries now struggles to continue beyond April.
Compared with the Japanese cultivar Benihoppe, Culta reports 40% higher yield, a 30% higher °Brix value and 40% greater firmness for SAKURA DROPS. The company says the fruit, harvested fully ripe, retains its quality for more than ten days. These comparisons were provided by Culta; the source does not report results from independent trials.
The company has also commercialised white strawberries for premium markets in China and Southeast Asia. For Noaki, improving flavour and agronomic performance is crucial for this type of product.
Expansion still needs to be proven
Culta plans to begin strawberry production in Australia to supply the Asian market and is exploring opportunities in the United States and Europe. It has also begun breeding programmes for table grapes and apples, with a stated goal of introducing varieties by 2030.
The challenge will be to establish whether the reported varietal performance and the model based on licensing, buying back the crop and selling branded fruit can also work in growing environments and markets beyond Asia.
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