Bloom Fresh™, a company devoted to technological innovation with blueberries, cherries, and table grapes, has laid the first stone of its new research center in the municipality of Blanca, in the Spanish Region of Murcia. The event was attended by Fernando López Miras, President of the Region of Murcia; Sara Rubira, Regional Councilor for Water, Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries; Álvaro Muñoz, CEO of AMFRESH™; and Josep Jove, CEO of Bloom Fresh.
This state-of-the-art center will have 80 hectares after an investment of €20 million that will put Blanca on the map in the field of table grape development. The list of locations that were being considered included Peru, Chile, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Egypt, Greece, Israel and China; however, in the end, "we opted for this land's talent, which will help generate the genetics that will then be tested in other countries," said Muñoz, who thanked the authorities and his team for their efforts.
© Lydia González | FreshPlaza.com
"We started with a test field in Alhama de Murcia and a research center in California. Now we have innovation facilities in 15 countries, and we develop grapes with a diversity of flavors catering to practically all tastes," said Jove.
"I remember that, years ago, there were only four or five varieties of seedless grapes; now there are more than a hundred. This wide range includes some very well-known varieties we've created, such as the Sweet Globe®, Sweet Celebration®, Allison™, Timpson™, or Cotton Candy™," said the head of Bloom Fresh.
In this new center, "besides table grapes, we'll also conduct research on blueberry and cherry hybrids. Cherries are produced both in the northern and southern hemispheres, but not in the tropics, as the crop doesn't get enough chilling hours there. Our aim will be to supply cherries 52 weeks a year at no exorbitant cost to the consumer. The next step will be to study the feasibility of creating a seedless cherry," said Jove.
This will be quite a challenge, as the chilling hours are the amount of time spent below 7°C per year, and from this, you have to subtract the hours with temperatures exceeding 30°C. In Murcia, the result is 200 chilling hours per year.
"Italy is the world's main producer of seeded table grapes, while China and India account for the majority of the production of seedless grapes. They alone have one million hectares. That's why it is important for Bloom Fresh to be present in China and protect its intellectual property by staying close to the largest production areas," said Jove.
Bloom Fresh is a company with roots in Murcia that has 150 employees. It is known for delivering unique flavors, such as grapes that taste like cotton candy or mojito, which are obtained by mixing different species. The genetic generation process is based on natural hybridization. "The lab has the technology to read the genetics of new hybrids, but this is a painstaking process that is done manually. In our new technological innovation center in Blanca, which will be completed before the end of 2026, we hope to develop fruits with plenty of flavor and high nutritional value at an affordable price for the consumer," said the head of Bloom Fresh.
For more information:
Josep Jove
Bloom Fresh
https://bloomfreshglobal.com
