The smooth Honey Moon melon certified as zero residue by Bureau Veritas has been released on the market. The Italian growers' organization Bristol, which specializes in the production and marketing of high-quality melons and watermelons, was behind the launch.
"Zero residue means that 100% of the minimum quantifiable residues, i.e., 0.01 ppm or mg/kg, are not derived from synthetic chemicals. Our melon follows the new European guidelines for ecological transition and greater respect for the environment, even in agriculture," said Tommaso Concari, technical manager of field production control and quality systems management at Op.
"Our zero residue is different. The crops are not treated with residual agrochemicals at all, but we only use agrochemicals of natural derivation, such as potassium bicarbonate and soft soap, and organic derivation, such as sulphur and copper. We also use useful antagonistic insects such as ladybirds. We aim at a healthier agriculture for plants and consumers”.
"In addition, we have benefited from the favorable genetics of our Honey Moon melon, which contains a VAT gene for aphid resistance. We are not talking about a genetically modified organism, but one that is the result of various crossbreeds," emphasized Concari.
The zero residue melon chain "Ours has been a long journey. We have been conducting experiments for three years now. Our smooth zero residue melon is currently grown in only three selected farms, one in Bologna, one in Mantua (in protected cultivation) and another one in Abruzzo (in open field). This allows us to have product availability from the end of May to mid-September. The zero residue certification is based on another certification, ISO 2005, which is about the traceability of the supply chain, from the seed to the fruit in the box," continued the technical manager.
Because of the adverse weather conditions in April, the product is more limited this year." We have just started marketing the first volumes, right after the approval of the certifier. This year the production yield will be around 50-70 tons, and in the coming seasons it will reach 150 tons per year. As early as next year, we hope to have full availability of our smooth melon with zero residue, starting from the end of May/beginning of June."
According to Concari, the Italian markets are showing a fair amount of interest and sales are limited only to Italy at the moment. We will see how this evolves over the next few years, depending on the increase in production volumes. We are trying to open a channel with the large-scale retail trade in order to test their readiness for the new product.
"Our smooth Honey Moon zero residue melon is packaged in the classic 30x40 format, with 4 or 6 fruits. However, we opted for different colors in order to distinguish it from the rest of our range," concluded Concari.
For more information: bristolgroup.it