KEY POINTS:
It looks like a donut, crunches like an apple and tastes like a peach - the flatto is here.
Currently being grown in central Otago, the flatto, a natural variety of the peach, has been grown around the world for hundreds of years.
New Zealand grower Kevin Paulin imported the flatto budwood from another grower in France in 2003 but has only this year been able to "establish a good crop".
The fruit, called Galaxy peaches in the US, is so rare that the season only lasts about three weeks of the year. Yummy Fruit Company product manager Dave Jessup said the flatto is sweeter and lower in acid than the normal peach.
"This season has seen our flattos grow well and we hope for an even bigger yield next year."
Mr Jessup said the fruit was popular in children's school lunch-boxes and a good way to give them their "5 + a day" serving.
Flattos are available at Pak'n Save and New World supermarkets.
