Personal watermelons currently account for
about 15% of the US watermelon market, and
the percentage is steadily increasing. Among
the reasons for growth are consumers' appreciation
of the taste and convenience of the mini-watermelon, as well as the fact that American families are getting smaller.
Recently, mini-watermelons have been capturing a market share away from the similar sized, regular melons.
Hazera Company, a leader in the seed industry, forecast this trend and offers its customers a range of mini-seedless watermelons of all sizes and textures, with the promise of more to come.
Mr. Mark van der Zouwen, Hazera’s Global Product Manager for Cucurbits.
In addition to the popular Ocelot, Hazera offers a selection of various sizes to meet customer requirements and diverse growing conditions. Here are some of Hazera's wide selection of personal watermelon varieties:
Lynx (2-4 Ibs) a micro watermelon noted for its excellent internal quality and attractive flesh color.
Ocelot (3-5 lbs), with its popular qualities, high Brix level and deep red internal color.
Serval (4-5 Ibs) a mini- watermelon with excellent uniformity and flesh color.
Mielheart (4-6 Ibs) with its good performance in cooler conditions and dark red flesh.
Leopard (5-7 lbs) a variety with high yields, well adapted to hot growing conditions and is noted for its long shelf life.
Extazy (5-7 lbs) a variety with firm and crunchy flesh, attractively red inside, with high yields and Extra long Shelf life.
Tigris (5-9 Ibs) a variety which has a very attractive appearance, an excellent rind/flesh ratio and a deep red internal color.
Over the coming year, Hazera plans to launch two new mini-watermelon varieties: HA50024 (4-6 lbs) a variety with high uniformity and high internal quality, and HA50025 (5-7 lbs) a superior tasting, high yield variety. Both varieties have an intense red color and a very long shelf life.
Hazera also offers seeds of mini-watermelon varieties that also serve as pollinators – Minipol & Polimor.
"The Winning Team"
The keys to Hazera's success in the US watermelon market are threefold: experience and longstanding reputation for dependability and excellent customer relations, premium quality varieties and a professional team. These are the pillars on which the "The Winning Team" campaign was developed. The campaign includes advertising, sponsorship, sales promotions and online activities both in the US and Mexico - www.hazera.us.com/watermelon-compaign/
Hazera's success is not limited to the US alone - sales in Mexico are also on the rise thanks to the Mexico sales team, which includes distributors and agricultural experts who meet with growers one on one, and provide personal service to each and every customer. Sales efforts are supported by field events, called "Dia De Campo", to which the team invites distributors and growers to see the variants in the field and receive information from agricultural experts.
Hazera is currently applying its knowledge in the field of watermelon genetics and breeding in the Americas to the large watermelon segment as well, and is now taking its first steps in this market.
For more information, please visit www.hazera.us.com.