Snacking varieties on the rise at Rijk Zwaan

In its quest to service the retail chain and connect to the retailers’ format, uniformity is one of Rijk Zwaan’s focal points; the ability to deliver homogenous bunches and equal fruits, explained marketing tomato & cucumber specialist Johan Vis during an open day at the Rijk Zwaan demo greenhouse. He keeps in close contact with retailers to know what is needed, and in tomatoes taste is very important at the moment.

“Retailers are aiming to strengthen the format by bringing taste into the tomato assortment,” Vis said.

Taste will remain an important focus for Rijk Zwaan over the coming years in the drive to raise awareness of differences in flavours.  For now, the Florantino is one of the most promising and special tomato varieties, simply bursting with flavour. In addition to being very flavourful, it offers exclusivity and

“it has that moreish quality that makes that you keep on eating this snack tomato,” explained Vis.

The snacking segment is currently enjoying a lot of attention. A lot of effort has gone into developing Rijk Zwaan’s varieties, which target this burgeoning segment. Different coloured snack tomato varieties with excellent taste have been added to the assortment. They are highly appreciated in mixes.

Ternetto: taste & yield

The optimum combination of good properties in a variety is the basis for Rijk Zwaan. The firm aimed to bundle a high yield and good taste into a variety that really stands out, and the answer was found in the Ternetto.

“Ternetto is a highly productive snack tomato variety with really good taste and the tomatoes don’t crack, which makes them an excellent choice for packing in shakers,” said Vis.

Another product on the rise in the snacking segment is the cucumber. Rijk Zwaan is currently testing different varieties of snack cucumbers alongside a cucumber (still in the number stage) that has a smaller core, making it suitable for use in sandwiches.