Spar and Frutura Test Bringing Forgotten Austrian Apple Varieties Back to Shops
A 2,150-tree trial in Styria has produced its first tonne of two heritage apples.
Austrian supermarket chain Spar and Styrian fruit producer Frutura are trialling whether two almost-forgotten apple varieties can be grown and sold at commercial scale, Vienna.at reported on 14 October 2026.
The trial
The project was presented at Frutura's trial site near Großwilfersdorf in eastern Styria. Spar's deputy CEO Markus Kaser said the aim is biodiversity, "not for romantic reasons." Austria has about 2,000 apple varieties, but only about ten are sold commercially.
- Varieties: Ilzer Rosenapfel, once common in eastern Styria, and the Tyrolean Falchs Gulderling
- Trees: about 2,150, on roughly 0.7 hectares, with plans to grow to one hectare
- First harvest: about one tonne, after three years
What the growers learned
The Gulderling is large and deep red, grows fairly fast and suits modern orchard management, said Frutura's Gottfried Dampfhofer. The Ilzer Rosenapfel is smaller, grows more sprawlingly, is more heat-sensitive and ripens very late. Both taste reminiscent of apples from childhood, according to the report.
What's next
Storage life and post-storage taste are still being tested. Little of the first tonne will reach shelves, perhaps one Vienna branch, and the apples will cost somewhat more than regular ones. They will not become mass-market products, and the trees bore less fruit at first, so the coming years will show whether the idea works.
Even so, saving old varieties keeps genetic diversity alive that modern orchards have largely lost.
