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PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEMINIS AND ENZA ZADEN
balance there; it took us a long time to find that,” he says.
Justin Davis, sales and marketing director at Sakata Seed America in Morgan Hill, CA, says cantaloupes in general have lost a lot of flavor over the past decade, but now the market seeks a revival.
“It’s because of a switch to a different type of longer shelf life, less shrinkage vari- eties, but the flavor’s terrible,” says Davis. “The market wants to bring that [flavor] back, so there’s a race to get the best flavor with the best aroma that the consumer can enjoy.”
Sakata is known for its Infinite Gold canta- loupe, which Davis says has very high brix as well as a high yield and holding capacity.
“Grown the right way, the advantage of it is all of those things,” he says. “The disadvantage is it’s not a traditional Western shipper cantaloupe, so you have to train the labor force to harvest it, and that’s a trade-off the grower needs to learn.”
He emphasizes the importance of allowing breeders the creative license to think outside the box, especially given large grower-shippers are increasingly looking for unique produce items to set themselves apart.
Taste preferences vary from one person to the next, though, making flavor a largely subjective notion. However, Enza Zaden North America, Inc., of Salinas, CA, aims to find a more precise definition.
The company’s marketing manager, Jean-Francois Thomin, says his team works with local chefs to analyze the flavor of varieties, as well as with universities for consumer studies.
“The secret is actually to assess flavor,” he says. “Flavor is something that’s personal, very subjective, so what we try to do is come up with a method that can help us find where flavor is and test our products with a large consumer group.”
Enza Zaden’s Tribelli mini-conical peppers are one item that has gone through this rigorous process, and Thomin claims the company couldn’t be so innovative if it weren’t for partnerships with growers who test cultivars under real-life conditions.
“In order to best select for the desired traits, Enza Zaden evaluates the Tribelli vari- eties under various management systems in multiple locations throughout North America,” says Thomin. “We also look at what is happening in the marketplace, where health and convenience have been two strong driving forces.
At Seminis, products such as this honeydew melon have evolved from a ‘flavor journey.’
Enza Zaden’s Tribelli mini-conical peppers have gone through rigorous flavor testing with a large consumer group.
30 / MAY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
“By utilizing taste panels, phytochemical analysis and evaluating postharvest handling, we can more accurately predict how a new variety will be perceived by the consumer and stand up on the shelf.”
GROWER-LEVEL FEEDBACK IS KEY
For Carlos Bon, sales manager at Nogales, AZ-based Divine Flavor, introduction of the Tribelli pepper represents an inflection point
for the category.
“That’s how we separate our mini pepper
history — before Tribelli and after Tribelli,” says Bon. “This is a rare case where the best eating variety is also the best-looking one; not only is the Tribelli sweeter and crispier, but it also has an even size in all three colors that we never had before.”
“Research shows a large percentage of the consumers buy the mini peppers
“The secret is actually to assess flavor. Flavor is something that’s personal, very subjective, so what we try to do is come up with a method that can help us find where flavor is and test our products with a large consumer group.”
— Jean-Francois Thomin, Enza Zaden North America