Is it from New Zealand or something? Do you just pop it in your mouth whole? And what, exactly, is a kiwiberry?
University of New Hampshire junior Hannah Bogart and recent grad Alicia Chevoor fielded those questions and more from hundreds of Concord Farmers Market passers-by Saturday.
The grape-sized fruit grows on vines in cold climates, and can survive temperatures as low as minus-30 Fahrenheit. It tastes just like its better known tropical cousin, the kiwifruit, though instead of that fruit’s signature fuzzy shell, the kiwiberry is covered in a thin, smooth and vaguely leathery skin.
Originally from northeastern Asia, kiwiberries – scientific name Actinidia arguta – have been growing in New England since the late 1800s, mostly by hobbyists, but also in wild patches. Just a few scattered farms across the country grow the fruit for sale.
UNH researcher Iago Hale, an assistant professor of specialty crop improvement, wants to bring the fruit to market in New Hampshire.
Because the fruit can withstand such cold temperatures (another name for the fruit is cold-hardy kiwi) and because it can grow in relatively low-quality soil, Hale thinks it might be an ideal cash crop for farmers in the Granite State – and especially the North Country. Packed with vitamin C, the kiwiberry is also being touted as a hyper-healthy snack.
On a 1.5-acre plot at the university’s Woodman Horticultural Research Farm in Durham, Hale is researching how best to grow the vines. And at farmers markets across the state, UNH is bringing Hale’s pitch directly to consumers with free samples of the bite-sized fruit.
That pitch appears to be going over well.
People swarmed the UNH booth Saturday, popping the fruits into their mouth, their eyes widening in surprise.
“They’ve actually been growing in New England for over a hundred years,” Chevoor told David Peterson of Concord.
“You’re kidding – I’ve never heard of them,” he said. Peterson, like many before him, asked if the fruits were on sale.
They weren’t – not yet – Chevoor said, adding that feedback cards were available.
“You’d make a fortune if they were,” he said.
The feedback cards asked respondents if they liked the fruit and why, how likely they would be to buy them, and how much they would be willing to pay. Chevoor estimated the two would be collect about 200 responses Saturday alone. In total, UNH plans to showcase the fruits at about 20 farmers markets to collect market research.
“The taste was fantastic,” said Steve Mclocklin of Dunbarton. “And commercial, marketable products in New Hampshire, I’m all for that.”
You can follow Hale’s work on the kiwiberry at unh.edu/halelab/kiwiberry.
(Lola Duffort can be reached at 369-3321 or lduffort@cmonitor.com.)