Rijk Zwaan opens second seed processing facility
Rijk Zwaan is proud to announce the opening of a new facility in De Lier. This expansion increases the fruit and vegetable breeding company’s capacity for seed cleaning, processing, storage and packaging to continue to meet the growing demand for seeds. In a ceremony attended by colleagues, construction partners and Bouke Arends, mayor of the Municipality of Westland, the new ‘Seed Connect Centre’ was officially opened on Tuesday 8 April.
Successful partnership brings organic Tatayoyo to Austria all year round
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.
Understanding abiotic stress in plants
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.
"Crunchita fits into the snacking trend as a healthy alternative to carbohydrate-rich and gluten-based options"
“Crunchita delivers on crunch, which is the texture for 2025,” says Angelique du Toit, the passionate Produce Buyer Vegetables at Spinneys in Dubai. This innovative retailer introduced Rijk Zwaan’s versatile lettuce in close collaboration with the Dutch distributor Freshclusive. “It works well in salads, wraps or as a snacking ‘hero’ item. We inspire customers with healthy eating options, supported by recipes in our Spinneys Nourish magazine, our social media channels and instore tastings.”
Biofach: broad optimism in the organic sector
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 helps organic growers to control soilborne diseases
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.
“Together we’re ensuring that consumers can enjoy Snack Lettuce all year round”
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 shares knowledge during Fruit Logistica events and at the Retail Centre
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.
Yellow watermelon: how Tropical Sunshine RZ adds colour to retail shelves
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.”