Don Westcott's Contact Details

Don Westcott's Company Details

Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc.

Summerland, BC, CA • 20 - 49 Employees
BioTech/Drugs

Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. (OSF) began as a small, dynamic agricultural biotechnology company based in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1996, OSF specializes in developing tree fruit varieties with novel attributes that benefit fruit producers and consumers alike. OSF is one of the first firms to pursue the use of biotechnology to deliver product innovations to the tree fruit industry.Our LeadershipOSF is led by apple and cherry grower Neal Carter. Through his work across the globe as a bioresource engineer, Neal became convinced of the opportunities offered by biotechnology.OSF's world-class science team works collaboratively with many of the world's leading tree fruit research institutions.Our VisionOSF will change the way people think about and experience produce; our creative product development and commercialization expertise will open the door to novel, exciting, specialized foods that support the evolving healthy diet choices of today's consumer.Our MissionTo develop safe, high-quality tree fruit cultivars that provide growers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, foodservice and consumers with improvements in quality and productivity; and to successfully market and commercialize these products.A revolutionary innovation: Arctic® applesOSF's flagship project is the development and commercialization of nonbrowning Arctic® apples. Arctic® apples' nonbrowning trait offers valuable benefits for all members of the apple supply chain, from growers to consumers.OSF holds a worldwide license on the ability to regulate the expression of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) genes to control enzymatic browning in tree fruits, and we are patent holders of the technology that enables us to do so. By reducing the expression of PPO, OSF is developing tree fruits with inhibited enzymatic browning.