Austrian consumers can now enjoy organically grown snack peppers with a unique tropical flavour all year round. Both grower Veganis and an Austrian retailer were so impressed by the award-winning Tatayoyo that they recently joined forces to add it to the retailer’s premium organic range. Gregor Hoffmann, Client Manager at Rijk Zwaan Welver, explains how it was achieved.

When pl­ants suffer stress due to cold, hea­t, soil salinity or a lack of fresh wa­ter, it results in lower production. That’s why we develop varieties that thrive in hot, dry conditions. In this blog, Ehab Aboukheir, Team Leader Seed Technology Research, shares more about our research into abiotic stress, and how this guides our continuous improvement activities.

Sales of organic products are on the rise again, which resulted in an optimistic mood at the Biofach event in Nuremberg, Germany. From 11-14 February, this international trade fair for the organic sector attracted visitors from 140 countries – and Heleen Bos, Specialist Marketing Organics at Rijk Zwaan, was among them. She provides a roundup of the highlights.

Biosolarisation is very effective and fairly easy to implement. Organic vegetable growers in Spain have been using this natural method to suppress soilborne diseases for many years. Four weeks of sunshine and high temperatures are a prerequisite for successful biosolarisation. Therefore, the approach could also be interesting for organic growers in other Mediterranean climates.

Snack Lettuce enables retailers across Europe to offer consumers something exciting in the lettuce category. It not only forms a crunchy basis for snacks, but is also available all year round on the continent. This is thanks to close collaboration within the expanding network of growers in Spain, Italy, Germany and Ireland. Four of them explain what makes both the partnership and Snack Lettuce so successful.

Rijk Zwaan is looking forward to welcoming Fruit Logistica attendees to its booth (Hall 1.2, Stand D-13) to explore together how commitment to care can help partners thrive in today’s ever-evolving market. Experts from the fruit and vegetable breeding company are also contributing to a number of parallel events in Berlin. To engage in even more knowledge sharing, customers and partners can sign up to visit the Retail Centre – the company’s very own retail experience facility in Berlin.

Innovation is the only way to stay ahead of the game. That is why South African growing companies, supermarket chain Woolworths and Rijk Zwaan collaborated closely to bring customers something special in both the core fruit and the prepared fruit category: yellow watermelon Tropical Sunshine RZ. “It stands out because of its colour and amazing taste.”

“Tatayoyo® is not just a pepper; it’s a versatile innovative ingredient that can transform dishes,” says Andrea Alvarez from fresh produce company UNICA. Since last year, the award-winning pepper is also being sold at retailer LIDL. “We highly value the close cooperation with Rijk Zwaan and UNICA to bring this to our shelves,” says Boyd Muijs, Vice President of Fresh Purchasing International at LIDL. Innovation and collaboration are just two reasons why Andrea and Boyd are so enthusiastic about this groundbreaking new concept.

By working in partnership with Rijk Zwaan, growers gain early access to the newest resistant varieties. This is of strategic importance to help them meet retailers’ needs and add value for consumers. One example is Anizalla RZ, the new ToBRFV-resistant mini-plum truss variety that is already being grown commercially for sale in Germany and the UK. “We care about bringing varieties to the retail market that add value for consumers in terms of flavour and visual appeal,” says Maarten van der Leeden, Client Manager Sales at Rijk Zwaan in the Netherlands.