Derek Jennings

Derek is one of the world’s top raspberry breeders with many years’ experience in soft fruit breeding. Derek has dedicated his life to breeding all of the major varieties that are grown today, both commercially and in the amateur marketplace. Derek worked at the world-famous Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee where he bred the ‘Glen’ series of raspberries (including Glen Clova, Glen Ample, Glen Lyon, Glen May, Glen Posen) as well as purple and black raspberries. He also bred blackberries such as Loch Ness and the Tayberry.

Derek continued to work after retiring from SCRI where his breeding programme produced the ‘Joan’ series of raspberries, named after his wife Joan Jennings.

Derek’s latest variety to be released is ‘Brice’. At present Redeva have further leading selections that have great promise. Derek breeds over 10,000 raspberries each year which are trialled all over the world, from the U.K. to Spain to Mexico to Australia.

Eva Izsak

Eva is one of the leading strawberry breeders of the world. Eva worked for many years at the Volcani’s Institute in Israel where she bred the majority of strawberry varieties grown in the Middle East. Since retiring she has continued her work producing Suzana, Red Delight and Red Merlin – all Redeva varieties. Redeva continues to produce leading varieties both in the Middle East and in Europe.

Irene Geoghegan

Irene has worked in plant breeding for over twenty years, starting her career at the SCRI and now working alongside Derek and Eva. Irene currently operates and runs the strawberry breeding programme and has developed the leading selections in our trials in Europe and the Middle East, one of which will become the next Redeva variety to be named.

Over 25,000 crosses a year. | back to top

Redeva makes over 25,000 crosses a year on strawberries and raspberries. With four years of work that means that over 100,000 crosses have been made. Each cross produces a unique individual plant. The Redeva Team continuously assesses the plants, selecting what they believe to be the best plant for the future of the industry. The selection process can take in excess of 10 years but Redeva has developed its own specialised techniques to reduce this time.

To understand the breeding process click here:

State-of-the-Art Growing Facilities | back to top

Redeva has extensive state-of-the-art facilities all over the world. In order to carry out plant breeding, selection and the commercialisation of varieties, the facilities need to be operated at the highest standard. There are three key breeding sites, one based in Israel and two in the U.K. The new selections are then grown in high-tech protected structures where the temperature, watering, ventilation, and feed are all controlled by computers. The leading selections are then reproduced by taking runners. It is critical to ensure the runners are true to type and not infected with pests or diseases. Again this is done in high-tech protected structures to eliminate any risks of failure. Finally the leading selections are trialled at our Summerfruit Company Grower farms.

Contact Us



Tim Morton General Manager
Email: tim.morton@worldfresh.co.uk
Mobile: +44 (0)7768 335641

Tolworth Tower
Surbiton Surrey
KT6 7EL

Phone: +44 (0)20 8390 1133
Fax: +44 (0)20 8399 3499
e-mail: info@redeva.com
Web: www.redbridge-holdings.com/worldfresh/redeva