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this work.”
Tricket of Bejo Seeds notes varietal selec-
tion also needs to keep retailer packaging preferences in mind, as well as trends around value-added items.
“The spinach market has gone heavily toward savoyed or semi-savoyed leaves, because they stay fluffy and better in the bag, whereas smooth leaves will stick to the surface and not look very nice,” he says. “At Bejo, we also have a giant hybrid kohlrabi that is economical to process; most kohlrabis
are too small to be economically processed into sticks or noodles.”
The company has a six-month foodservice initiative this year to distribute kohlrabi pasta, and eventually the plan is to introduce a new assortment of kohlrabi-based products.
“If you’re a grower and have your own packaging capability to provide finished prod- ucts to retail, I would take a strong look at the opportunity to work with seed producing companies to acquire licensing or rights to unique proprietary varieties that give you an
“We might do hundreds of thousands of crosses a year evaluating 20,000 seedlings, and of those seedlings the first time we have an evaluation we may choose to keep 100, and when we get to year two of fruiting we may take that down to 50.”
— Andy Higgins, International Fruit Genetics
advantage over everybody else,” says Trickett. “Then I would look to brand and lock in a market with those products to retailers.”
FINDING COMMERCIAL SUCCESS
One grower that has been proactive with new cultivars is Mann Packing of Salinas, CA, which along with capitalizing on convenience trends with its nourish bowls has championed unique varieties of brassicas.
“We launched both Broccolini SweetStem Broccoli and Caulilini SweetStem Cauliflower to our foodservice customers before retail, and it has been a really effective approach,” says Loree Dowse, Mann Packing’s director of creative marketing. “We find chefs are always receptive to something new and different, while consumers need a bit of exposure before they’ll proactively pursue a product.”
Dowse says Mann has strong relationships with seed companies, which tend to see it as an innovator and will frequently show the grower new products or seed trials before anyone else.
“It’s something they’ve come to expect from us, and it’s something that really gets our blood pumping, so it works out well for everyone,” she says, clarifying not every variety goes well, though. “Even if we’ve trialed a product for an extended period, we can still run into roadblocks with growing, harvesting, or simply the market not responding to something the way we predicted.”
Mann Packing is owned by Del Monte Fresh Produce of Coral Gables, FL, which itself has an active research and development program to explore new varieties.
“Fresh pineapples are now a staple in all produce departments in North America,” says vice president of marketing Dionysios Christou. “With the introduction of the Del Monte Gold Extra Sweet Pineapple in the mid-1990s, Del Monte has helped revolu-
34 / MAY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS