On 20 July 2026, the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) issued a decision confirming BigBucks Gala as a qualifying variety for European Union Plant Variety Rights, following replicated trials across multiple sites and EU countries.
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The decision gives the South African-developed apple variety stronger protection in the European Union after an eight-year evaluation process.
The story of BigBucks Gala began on 18 January 2011, when Buks Nel, Tru-Cape’s New Cultivar Expert, discovered a distinctive tree in an established Corder Gala block at Oak Valley Estate in Elgin.
The tree was a chance mutation, or naturally occurring sport, that developed as a single tree within a commercial apple orchard.
South African Plant Breeders’ Rights were awarded to BigBucks Gala on 21 July 2011, after which plantings expanded rapidly. By the end of winter 2025, 2,542,284 trees had been planted in South Africa, excluding additional grafted trees.
This makes BigBucks Gala the fastest-growing apple variety in the history of the South African apple industry.
“BigBucks Gala is a remarkable South African apple story,” says Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen. “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. To now have European Plant Variety Rights awarded after such an extensive evaluation process is a tremendous achievement.”
Distinctive and stable characteristics
To qualify for plant breeders’ rights, a variety must possess characteristics that distinguish it from other varieties.
BigBucks Gala has several distinctive features. Its blossom is dark red, its fruit stem is red, and the fruitlets develop a red colour within the first month after blossom. A central red vein is also visible on the back of each leaf.
The variety has also demonstrated strong stability. Many Gala varieties can revert to their original type, creating challenges for growers and the long-term commercial development of a variety. BigBucks Gala has had no reported reversions to date.
“Stability is a particularly important characteristic when you are building a variety at scale,” says Rawbone-Viljoen. “The fact that BigBucks Gala has remained inherently stable, with no reported reversions, has been a major positive.”
Eight-year European evaluation
The process of securing European protection began in 2016, when a Testing and Option Agreement was signed with ABCz Nursery in Belgium and an application for European Plant Variety Rights was submitted to the CPVO on 14 October 2016.
In January 2018, the CPVO determined that several improved Gala varieties were regarded as “varieties of common knowledge”. It subsequently decided to conduct replicated trials of the competing improved Gala varieties to determine which would ultimately qualify for European Plant Variety Rights.
The evaluation involved extensive testing at different sites across different European Union countries.
After more than eight years of trials, the CPVO’s decision on 20 July 2026 confirmed BigBucks Gala as the qualifying variety.
For the South African apple industry, the decision provides international recognition for a variety that originated spontaneously in a South African commercial orchard and has since been widely adopted by local growers.
“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 that was discovered in an Elgin orchard being recognised in Europe after such a rigorous testing process.”
The granting of European Plant Variety Rights adds another chapter to the BigBucks Gala story, from its discovery as a single unusual tree in an Elgin orchard to its adoption by South African growers and recognition in Europe.
“BigBucks Gala is proudly South African, and we look forward to seeing what the next chapter holds for this variety,” says Rawbone-Viljoen.
