Nunhems’ hosts first Melon and Watermelon field day in Australia
For the watermelon market in Australia, this type of event was the first of its kind. Bringing together industry leaders, new innovative products and the expertise of the Nunhems team in the same fields, at the same time.
This event offered great expertise by the presence of our melon breeder, Hasib Humaydan. He had the opportunity to listen directly from the growers and industry leaders regarding many of their ideas and suggestions to solve some of the local needs pertaining to varieties.
Damon Atkinson (Sales Specialist Melon and Watermelon) with customers from Withcott Nursery.
Minkyu Lee, Produce Chain Manager for Asia was exploring export market opportunities with all the novelties presented. Joachim Schneider CEO from Nunhems wanted to support personally these new developments in the Australian market. He mentioned how important this region is for the organization and the need to allocate and manage properly the resources to support such a professional industry.
Damon Atkinson and Jamie Roylance from the melon and watermelon team together with the rest of team members from different specialities, were touring the growers and industry members on personalized visits to the fields and provided all kind explanations and information.
The watermelon market in Australia is already strongly shared by Nunhems, with this situation it could be difficult to keep growing sales. However, Nunhems crop team has been developing several novelties and innovations in different category types, which gives the grower the opportunity to develop new market products, and at the same time increase their efficiency. Some of these novelties innovative by way of improved external colours, internal qualities, size, format, and harvest ability.
An example of this innovation was the star of the event, the variety “Premium”. Premium’s many attributes include that of improved sustainability and higher profitability to the grower. Instead of leaving the pollinator fruit in the field due to quality issues or a low value product, growers can harvest Premium as high value marketable watermelon. This unique super-pollinator has smaller edible seeds, great flavour and excellent shipping ability. Premium can generate more marketable yields, reduce waste and ultimately more profit per acre.
In melon, the team came with a long list of novelties varieties that left the growers surprisingly pleased. We presented a list of varieties in long-life cantaloupes adapted to the different growing scenarios. Most of these varieties are extraordinary due to their ability to grow to a perfect size and have superior internal quality at the same time. Even more, Nunhems showcased a line of speciality cantaloupes which are easier to harvest. They become yellow when mature, present an excellent taste and long shelf life. This is the case for the Golden cantaloupes and the Sun cantaloupes. Another innovation is a yellow melon that is going to be a real revolution in its type!
For more information:
Emily Stirlen
Bayer
Tel: +1 800-733-9505
E-mail: [email protected]
nunhemsusa.com
