Rijk Zwaan's innovations in vegetable breeding are ensuring the sustainability of the fresh produce sector and the company will highlight some of its solutions-focused varieties and concepts at this year's Hort Connections.
Australia and New Zealand's largest industry trade show will be held in Melbourne from June 3 - 5. The theme for Hort Connections 2024 is 'Grow, Connect, Thrive'.
Rijk Zwaan Client Manager, Param Turna, said the theme is particularly fitting for them as vegetable seed breeding company this year, as it celebrates a significant achievement: 100 years of growth.
"Our journey began with Mr Rijk Zwaan's vision to enhance the quality of vegetables while ensuring their accessibility and affordability for all. By carefully combining traits for consumers, enhancing flavour, and convenience - with grower needs - such as adaptability, disease resistance and yield, we create vegetable varieties that meet the needs of a dynamic industry, while contributing to more efficient and sustainable production," Param said.
The industry is witnessing the emergence of new markets with meal delivery kits and snacking vegetables, as well as shrinking households, more frequent shopping, and a strong consumer desire to reduce waste and act more sustainably. "We can help solve the problem of waste and plastic wrapped produce in supermarkets by replacing half wrapped produce, for example celery and cabbage, with fun-sized, fridge friendly celery, or single serve sugarloaf cabbages that are remarkably sweet with a soft texture. Both have the potential to reinvigorate the mainstream category. The combination of the delayed-pinking Knox™ trait and one-cut ready Salanova® concept in our lettuce assortment offers benefits for the whole chain: growers have the option of complete mechanisation, retailers benefit from longer shelf life and consumers enjoy fresh, healthy, attractive produce," Param said.
For 100 years, Rijk Zwaan has driven category growth, and is proud to partner with growers to help create success with innovative products that also stimulate consumption, from reliably good snacking and truss tomatoes with increased resistances, sweet pointed capsicums, refreshing yellow-fleshed watermelon, and snacking vegetables. "Our varieties continue to transform the way vegetables are grown and consumed and meet the ever-evolving needs of the chain," Param said.
During Hort Connections, visitors can expect to see Rijk Zwaan's range of snack and midi Crunchy Cos lettuce, which combines the best qualities of Cos and Iceberg lettuce and creates opportunities for an improved offering at retail, as well as the food service sector. The company will also display its colourful range of Palermo, the sweetest pointed capsicum in the market, along with a trio of snacking capsicum varieties.
"We're eager to engage in conversations with everyone in the supply chain, seeking to understand the challenges faced by our partners so we can offer solutions. We look forward to seeing visitors at our stand 154-155," Param concluded.
For more information:
Tenille Meek
Rijk Zwaan Australia
Tel: +61 418 997 676
Email: [email protected]