In a historic milestone for South Africa’s agricultural sector, the BigBucks Gala apple variety has officially been granted European Union Plant Variety Rights. On 20 July 2026, the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) issued Decision No. 73170, declaring BigBucks Gala a qualifying variety following extensive, multi-country trials across Europe.
The ruling marks the culmination of an eight-year regulatory journey, reinforcing the international standing of a home-grown variety and securing robust intellectual property protection across the European Union.
A Serendipitous Elgin Discovery
The story of BigBucks Gala began on 18 January 2011, when Buks Nel, Tru-Cape’s New Cultivar Expert, spotted a unique tree within a commercial Corder Gala block at Oak Valley Estate in Elgin. The tree was a chance mutation—a naturally occurring “sport.”
Recognizing its potential, South African Plant Breeders’ Rights were granted on 21 July 2011. Commercial adoption followed at an unprecedented rate. By the end of winter 2025, 2,542,284 BigBucks Gala trees had been planted in South Africa (excluding additional grafted trees), establishing it as the fastest-growing apple variety in the history of the South African fruit industry.
“What started with the discovery of a single, naturally occurring mutation in an Elgin orchard has developed into one of the most significant variety successes in our industry,” notes Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen.
Unique Characteristics and Exceptional Stability
To secure Plant Breeders’ Rights, a new variety must prove both distinctiveness and long-term stability. BigBucks Gala boasts several unique physical identifiers:
- Distinctive Coloration: Dark red blossoms, red fruit stems, and fruitlets that turn red within the first month post-blossom.
- Foliage Markers: A prominent central red vein on the underside of every leaf.
Equally critical for commercial viability is varietal stability. While many Gala mutations tend to revert to their original form over time—creating operational and financial challenges for fruit growers—BigBucks Gala has demonstrated complete stability, with zero reported reversions to date.
The Rigorous Road to EU Recognition
The international journey commenced in 2016 through a Testing and Option Agreement with ABCz Nursery in Belgium, leading to a formal CPVO application on 14 October 2016.
However, the evaluation grew complex. In January 2018, the CPVO identified multiple improved Gala types as “varieties of common knowledge.” To establish which strain held superior distinctiveness, the CPVO commissioned side-by-side replicated trials across various EU member states. After more than eight years of rigorous field testing, BigBucks Gala emerged as the definitive qualifying variety.
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“It has certainly been a long and costly journey, but this outcome makes the wait worthwhile,” says Rawbone-Viljoen. “There is enormous satisfaction in seeing a variety discovered in an Elgin orchard recognized in Europe after such a rigorous testing process.”
The granting of EU protection secures an international future for this proudly South African cultivar, proving that local orchard innovations can compete and excel on the global stage.