The National Association of British and Irish Flour Millers (nabim) has given new milling wheat KWS Zyatt full Group 1 recommendation.

The new top-yielding milling wheat KWS Zyatt was granted full Group 1 milling approval by nabim following the successful milling and baking of commercial quantities from last year’s harvest.

“The approval is the independent confirmation demanded by the supply chain that KWS Zyatt fully meets the specifications of the UK milling and baking industry,” according to nabim.

Bred by KWS UK, KWS Zyatt is the highest-yielding, Group 1 milling wheat on the AHDB 2017-18 Recommended List (RL). It is also an approved export variety, carrying the ukp endorsement, designed to confirm that it will satisfy the needs of continental millers.

Martin Savage, nabim’s trade policy manager, described KWS Zyatt as a “welcome addition” to the Group 1 category: “We’re pleased to see another high-yielding Group 1 with excellent bread-making potential join the recommended list.”

He added that over the last two years, 60 tonnes of commercial crop had been milled for baking by six companies, including Camden BRI, the independent testing and advisory service.

“The results from our member companies confirmed it was a variety that performed well as a Group 1 and gave us the confidence to upgrade its recommendation from provisional to full. Consequently, we anticipate it will find broad market acceptance.”

Added to the RL in December, KWS Zyatt has attracted much interest, with the available stock seed quickly selling out. It is expected to take 8% of the certified seed market this autumn.

During the variety’s near-to-market development, KWS commissioned a series of private baking trials, spanning three years and with three commercial millers, to compare the performance of KWS Zyatt with that of market-leading Group 1 varieties. 

“The tests confirmed KWS Zyatt’s ability to hit the yields and maintain good functional proteins for the millers,” said KWS value chain manager Dr Kirsty Richards. “Furthermore, the variety has been proven to be easy and quick to mill.”

In comparison with other Group 1 variety Skyfall, over two contrasting seasons, KWS Zyatt performed strongly.

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