SA
February 1, 2016
Personal watermelons currently account for about 15% of the US watermelon market, and the percentage is steadily increasing.
Among the reasons for this impressive growth are consumer enjoyment of the truly delicious taste and convenience of the mini-watermelon, as well as the fact that American families are getting smaller. Recently, mini-watermelons have been capturing a market share away from the similar sized, regular melons.
Mark van der Zouwen, Hazera’s Global Product Manager for Cucurbits
Hazera Company, a global leader in the seed industry, forecast this trend and offers its customers a range of mini-seedless watermelons of all sizes and textures, with the promise of more to come.
In addition to the popular Ocelot, Hazera offers a winning selection of various sizes to meet customer requirements and diverse growing conditions.
Here are some of Hazera’s wide selection of Personal Watermelon varieties:
- Lynx (2-4 Ibs) a micro watermelon noted for its excellent internal quality and attractive flesh color.
- The popular Ocelot (3-5 lbs), with its exceptional qualities, high Brix level and deep red internal color.
- Serval (4-5 Ibs) a mini- watermelon with excellent uniformity and flesh color.
- Mielheart (4-6 Ibs) with its good performance in cooler conditions and dark red flesh.
- Leopard (5-7 lbs) a variety with high yields, well adapted to hot growing conditions and is noted for its long shelf life.
- Extazy (5-7 lbs) a variety with firm and crunchy flesh, attractively red inside, with high yields and Extra long Shelf life.
- Tigris (5-9 Ibs) a variety which has a very attractive appearance, an excellent rind/flesh ratio and a deep red internal color.
Over the coming year, Hazera plans to launch two new mini-watermelon varieties:
- HA50024 (4-6 lbs) a variety with high uniformity and high internal quality
- HA50025 (5-7 lbs) a superior tasting, high yield variety.
Both varieties have, as is true of all Hazera mini-watermelons, an intense red color and a very long shelf life.
Hazera also offers seeds of mini-watermelon varieties that also serve as pollinators – Minipol & Polimor.
“The Winning Team” 
The keys to Hazera’s success in the US watermelon market are threefold: extensive experience and longstanding reputation for dependability and excellent customer relations, premium quality varieties and a truly professional team. These are the pillars on which the “The Winning Team” campaign was developed. The campaign includes advertising, sponsorship, sales promotions and online activities both in the US and Mexico.
Testimonial by one of Hazera’s many satisfied customers:
Van Groningen & Sons have been growing quality produce on their family farm in California since 1922. The National Watermelon Association member Dan Van Groningen says: “I enjoy working with the team from Hazera. Most importantly they come and ask what I, as a grower, am looking for. This makes for a strong sense of partnership”. Dan also describes the general increase in the consumption of mini-watermelons and the emerging winter market for the product currently imported from Guatemala and Mexico.
Hazera’s success is not limited to the US alone – sales in Mexico are also on the rise thanks to the Mexico sales team, which includes distributors and agricultural experts who meet with growers one on one, and provide personal service to each and every customer. Sales efforts are supported by field events, called “Dia De Campo“, to which the team invites distributors and growers to see the variants in the field and receive information from agricultural experts. Hazera is currently applying its knowledge in the field of watermelon genetics and breeding in the Americas to the large watermelon segment as well, and is now taking its first steps in this market.
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