International leaders in fresh produce, Special News Fruit Licensing SL (SNFL Group) and Syngenta Group China have joined forces to continue to grow their businesses in China. Syngenta through their Modern Agriculture Platform (MAP) and their local farmers’ network will be developing a test block with some of the most important SNFL varieties. SNFL will be providing the plant material and will support Syngenta growers from an agronomic and technical point of view to guarantee the best quality of their crops. The first SNFL licensed table grape varieties will be planted in the area of Si Chuan and Shan Xi, where climate conditions and soil are optimal for the development and evaluation of the SNFL grape varieties.
Josep Estiarte, SNFL General Manager explains: “China is a key market to expand our activities in the future, and where we have been looking for the right partner to start varietal development locally. We are already promoting our table grape varieties locally through our exporting growers worldwide and we are doing significant efforts in different local markets; however, we do believe that partnering with Syngenta and their MAP network for sustainable local production will help to provide a 52-week supply of our varieties in China and will raise awareness through the demanding Chinese consumers.”
A key part of this initiative is MAP beSide, a program that helps farmers grow very high quality, traceable crops in a climate-smart way. The crops end up in the country’s top retailers. In that context, SNFL Group’s sweet, crunchy, and large berries’ varieties will be a good fit for retailers and consumers.
Zhao Zang, Syngenta Cash Crop General Manager of MAP&Digital shared “New variety is very important for growers and consumers in China. We help growers to choose the good variety and give them the technical support; for them to supply these varieties to the consumers. So, we do hope to have good cooperation with SNFL on the Chinese market.”
SNFL Group and Syngenta are partnering to expand the horizons of new varieties to farmers, participate to their technical education and training and facilitate the connection with potential buyers.
Chinese professional farmers need assessment on what kind of crops and varieties are most suitable, for local production and consumption, as they used to be far from the market. In China, people are very concerned with food safety, and retailers are trying to differentiate with quality. The partnership between SNFL Group and Syngenta MAP is pushing this upgrade back to agriculture.
For more information:
Marie-Anne de Béjarry
Email: marieanne.debejarry@snflgroup.com
www.snflgroup.com