Griffith, Australia
February 21, 2014
Oceania Nunhems team as well as colleagues from the USA & China
More than 70% of the market was represented last week by about 50 professionals in a phenomenal event organized by the melon and watermelon team in Griffith, Australia.
”With the goal of presenting all the variety assortment to the Australian market in melon and watermelon, the attendants were greatly surprised not only with the wide assortment Nunhems has to offer in Australia, but also with the large amount of novelties presented by both crops.” Rafa Mora, Crop Sales Manager for Watermelon and Melon.
Damon Atkinson (Sales Specialist Melon and Watermelon) with customers from Withcott Nursery
For the watermelon market in Australia, this type of event was a first of its kind. Bringing together industry leaders, new innovative products and the expertise of the Nunhems team in the same fields, at the same time.
This event offered great expertise by the presence of our melon breeder, Hasib Humaydan. He had the opportunity to listen directly from the growers and industry leaders regarding many of their ideas and suggestions to solve some of the local needs pertaining to varieties.
Minkyu Lee, Produce Chain Manager for Asia was exploring export market opportunities with all the novelties presented. Joachim Schneider CEO from Nunhems wanted to support personally these new developments in the Australian market. He mentioned how important this region is for the organization and the need to allocate and manage properly the resources to support such a professional industry.
Jamie Roylance (Sales Specialist Melon and Watermelon) with a customer from LaManna
Damon Atkinson and Jamie Roylance from the melon and watermelon team together with the rest of team members from different specialities, were touring the growers and industry members on
personalized visits to the fields and provided all kind explanations and information.
The watermelon market in Australia is already strongly shared by Nunhems, with this situation it could be difficult to keep growing sales. However, Nunhems crop team has been developing
several novelties and
innovations in
different category types, which gives the grower the opportunity to develop new market products, and at the same time increase their efficiency. Some of these novelties innovative by way of improved external colors, internal qualitites, size, format, and harvestability.
An example of this innovation was the star of the event, the variety “Premium”. Premium’s many attributes include that of improved sustainability and higher profitability to the grower. Instead of leaving the pollinator fruit in the field due to quality issues or a low value product, growers can harvest Premium as high value marketable watermelon. This unique super-pollinator has smaller edible seeds, great flavor and excellent shipping ability. Premium can generate more marketable yields, reduce waste and ultimately more profit per acre.
In melon, the team came with a long list of novelties varieties that left the growers surprisingly pleased. We presented a list of varieties in long-life cantaloupes adapted to the different growing scenarios. Most of these varieties are extraordinary due to their ability to grow to a perfect size and have superior internal quality at the same time. Even more, Nunhems showcased a line of specialty cantaloupes which are more easy to harvest. They become yellow when mature, present an excellent taste and long shelf life. This is the case for the Golden cantalupes and the Sun cantalupes. Another innovation is a yellow melon that is going to be a real revolution in its type!
Based on the success of this first event in Australia, the team is already considering a second edition. For more information about varieties mentioned or other Nunhems’ varieties, please contact a Nunhems’ representative at 800-733-9505.
About Nunhems
The vegetable seed business of Bayer CropScience operates under the brand Nunhems. Nunhems is the global specialist in vegetable genetics and services. As a globally integrated group of teams Nunhems builds unique customer relationships and shares products, concepts and expertise with the professional horticultural production industry and supply chain. The portfolio of Nunhems consists of varieties of 28 vegetable crops, including leading varieties of carrot, cucumber, leek, lettuce, melon, onion, pepper, tomato, and watermelon. With more than 1,800 employees, Nunhems is present in all major vegetable production areas in the world.
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