Up until the mid 1990s Western Australia produced approximately 30,000 tonnes of Albus for lucrative human consumption markets. Unfortunately, the industry was decimated by the appearance of the fungal disease anthracnose.  The variety grown at that time proved very susceptible to this disease.

COGGO's albus breeding program, in partnership with the WA Department of Agriculture and Food has been in place since 1992, with the aim of producing anthracnose resistant albus varieties.  Andromeda, the world's first albus with a practical level of resistance was released in 2005.  A variety with superior disease resistance and better yield will be released by the program in 2010. Click here for more details on the project.