Today people simply want more from their produce - juicier, more aesthetically pleasing, more uniformity…the list goes on and on. As a seed breeder, striving to improve on this plethora of requirements is a daily concern - and not everyone has the same priorities.
Although perhaps all inextricably linked, the grower, the shipper and the retailer all want certain aspects of the produce to be superceded - the ultimate challenge for the world’s seed-breeding companies is to please as many elements of the supply chain as is possible.
For retailers, and ultimately consumers, reports from across the seed-breeding sector suggest that the UK market is demanding superior flavour and a more substantial nutritional content - an area becoming increasingly important in seed breeding. “The UK is a very interesting and exciting market and it is different from other European countries,” says Claude Guérin, European supply chain coordinator for Nunhems France. “[UK] consumers have more attention to detail. It makes this market more challenging and changeable. They have a delicate palate and know very well what’s good or not,” he says.
Andrew Henderson, UK leafy sales manager at Netherlands-based seed breeders, Rijk Zwaan agrees: “Taste is very important in whatever we breed in the UK, we do look for varieties that have a better flavour, for example, higher sugar levels, or in tomatoes, higher levels of lycopene.”
But taste and nutrition are perhaps not the overriding concerns they should be. As many retailers clearly believe, the customer’s first bite is with the eye. Douglas Harley, md at Cygnet PB Ltd, the largest potato breeding company in the UK, says that one of the most key issues in seed breeding is the ability to balance customer requirements for quality while producing pest and disease resistant varieties that can command a premium yield. “The expected level of skin finish continues to increase with the customer and supermarket, and this is set against the increasing disease pressure and reducing bloom problems within the UK supply base, due to overly tight potato rotations,” he says.
The pressure on growers to produce picture-perfect produce has never been so intense - retailers routinely turn away whole batches of produce because of minor aesthetic flaws and this kind of attention to detail has a direct impact on the seed-breeding industry. Meeting all the demands of the UK multiples is tough, as Henderson says. “In the UK the biggest challenge is the supermarkets. They want more yields, better quality and taste and more nutrients.”
Inevitably, meeting these demands is an expensive job. And it is not the consumer who picks up the tab, he explains. “We have got to look into those products for the future and a lot of that work takes time. We sometimes feel that some of the innovations we come up with, we do not get enough reward for. The grower doesn’t get enough reward for his work and the supermarket is making more money despite the costs involved,” he says.
And to make things harder, not all these requirements are traditionally compatible. An attribute such as a product’s longevity is not necessarily synonymous with an increased nutritional content - a challenge that can be hard to overcome. “Sometimes the requirements are in opposition: when one is becoming better, the others can be under-performing,” Guérin explains.
Harley concurs. He explains that combining the attributes needed for a successful potato line is not always a straightforward practice: “In many cases disease and pest resistance traits are in direct conflict with processing and eating quality characteristics. For example, blight resistance comes predominantly from late-maturing, indeterminate varieties. In many cases these varieties are too late for some countries and can come with associated skin blemishes and disease problems,” he says.
Other outside factors also pose problems. Controlling shelf life or increasing pest and disease resistance have had a major bearing over the last few years.
“More natural tolerances or resistances are basic requirements for any varieties,” Guérin says. And none of these can interfere with the continuous drive for a perceived better product demanded by retailers.
Aside from characteristics like eating quality and uniformity, supermarkets, in fierce competition with one another, are looking at extending aspects like taste, colour and texture in order to produce something different. Instead of just a brighter colour or a more symmetric shape, they want something out-of-the-ordinary to attract the consumer. And this means that for seed breeders innovation is paramount. “New advancements are key for the UK market,” says Robin Wood, vegetable seed division director at Elsoms Seeds. “It is seen as a mature market and novelty is key for supermarkets, growers or packers to protect or improve their market share.” Bejo Zaden and Elsoms vegetable division, its UK distributor, are consciously working towards this in a number of lines. They have recently made major investments in a purple sprouting broccoli breeding program which has enabled its product to be harvested practically 12 months of the year - a big advancement on the two months it was originally available for.
De Ruiter Seeds’ new Zebra tomato is another very good example of this. A green and red striped outer skin covers bright crimson flesh - certainly a treat for the eye.
Although creating something weird and wacky to tempt consumers can go too far. Gerry Kelman from Israeli seed producer Zeraim Gedera points out that some projects have been less than well received by UK shoppers: “The Kumato, a black tomato was fantastically tasty but difficult to get people to take as black is not associated with a tomato.
“In the UK each and every new product development manager will talk about a point of difference,” he says. And it is POD that can make all the difference to a seed-breeding company. “It’s about bringing innovation - that’s where we can get something new into the market place,” agrees Henderson. “All the supermarkets want something to substantially add difference to the category in general - and this can take years to do.”
And while this is what the nation’s seed breeders are striving to achieve, there lies a fundamental problem in keeping up with consumer trends. Most new varieties take years to develop. “When current new varieties were originally crossed, the breeder would have had no idea that the variety would have been required to be black dot resistant in order to take a significant share of the UK fresh market. Bruising tolerances get ever tighter, skin set needs to be faster, in order to prevent development of skin blemish diseases in the soil,” Harley says.
Kelman explains that trying to predict the future of markets is often a high-risk aspect of business: “The main problem is that varietal breeding is such a long-term process. One directs breeding according to market needs and trends at a certain stage, but by the time the breeding programmes mature, these same trends could be obsolete and have been changed by other demands.” And Wood agrees: “In a rapidly changing environment it does not take long for a leading variety to suddenly become out of favour with growers or consumers, and the seed merchant can be left with seed that cannot be used, and if a breeder takes the wrong long-term view of where the market is going, then 20 years of breeding and selection can be for nothing.”
A potential solution to shortening the development of breeds lies in the very topical advancement of GMO usage. “One of the barriers is the lack of public support for genetically modified organisms, and if, when this is removed, then plant breeders will be able to reach some of these goals in a shorter time span,” says Wood. And if recent media reports documenting Europe’s progressive approval of crops with modified components are anything to go by, this could greatly transform the industry over the next few years - Henderson says that Rijk Zwaan is ready: “As a company we are not currently involved with GMO breeding but we keep our eyes on what’s going on. Should we need to, we could switch into it,” he says.
However, for the mean time, it seems there is one clear new trend underpinning the seed-breeding industry, and that is to extend the window a product is traditionally available. Wood explains that Elsoms’ investment in its year-round purple sprouting broccoli is reflective of a general inclination towards varieties with greater availability.
Henderson explains Rijk Zwaan has been focusing specifically in this area: “We are breeding products for different climate areas, where places are arid or have hotter weather. Those issues are becoming more in demand as more countries are running out of water,” he says. “It is the four seasons concept - supermarkets are now looking at 12 months supply. What we are aiming to do is breed products that are the same, but adaptable for climatic ranges.” As the industry is at the mercy of extreme fluctuations in climate, it seems this one attribute could bring the company long-term success.
De Ruiter is also making movements with a new, more adaptable tomato variety: “Our latest tomato variety is Marzanino. The taste is of traditional Italian tomatoes from the San Marzano region, but with good commercial attributes as well. It can be grown in a variety of conditions, making it suitable for year-round supply,” explains Sharon MacGregor, the company’s UK sales manager.
So, breeders work years to produce a unique, tasty, nutritious product that can be grown in a variety of climates, with limited problems with pests and disease - an almost undeliverable goal. But they still face problems. Such is the financial gain to be had for coming up with a successful variety; they have to watch it does not get stolen.
Plant variety protection or infringementis a serious issuefacing breeders at the moment, and is on the agenda of the European Seed Association and British Society of Plant Breeders, says Wood: “Being a very long-term investment, plant breeding and seed production is a risky business, coupled with the fact that there are infringements if vegetable varieties - just like there are of CDs and Rolex watches.”
While there is some security to be had in cultivating hybrid varieties, some fruits and vegetables are open season. “Many of the products from our new Salanova brand have been patented but lettuce is different. There is no hybridisation in lettuce, any one can pinch them - it is still just open pollinated,” Henderson reveals.
So, it seems that like most aspects of the fresh produce supply chain, seed breeders are also under an increasing amount of pressure in an age where convenience and appearance perhaps take too much away from why fruit and vegetables are consumed in the first place. Technological advancements over the next few years could see balancing the conundrum more achievable, but no doubt consumers will have even more exacting demands by then - and for the world’s seed breeding companies to succeed, it seems they will have to stay ahead of the game.
SEEDS OF THE FUTURE
Some of the latest offerings from the seed industry:
CARROT:
• After long-term trials, Elsoms has produced ‘Norwich’ - a variety that the company says is set to become a leader in the UK.
ONION:
• Bejo Zaden has started producing its ‘Quality Inside’ brand - a new concept whereby onion sets are grown to a set of higher quality protocols and embrace new genetics. Its UK distributor, Elsoms’ vegetable division, is offering the world’s first mildew resistant bulb.
PARSNIP:
• Elsoms has undertaken a new hybrid breeding programme which has produced Palace, Panache and Polar varieties so far.
POTATO:
• Cygnet PB Ltd is working on a new early set skin baker called Bonnie. It has an attractive splash of red colouring around the eye, has a good skin finish and has excellent resistance to black spot.
MELON:
• Zeraim Gedera is producing a range of “personal sized watermelons” to appeal to smaller families and older consumers who may find the traditional-sized fruit too cumbersome.
• Nunhems is looking for retailers to sell its successful Cantaloupe variety, Magenta, in halves to increase buyer interest.
TOMATO:
• Zeraim Gedera is working on a new tomato-breeding programme that encompasses higher sugar ratios and increased levels of lycopene and vitamins.
• De Ruiter has produced the Marzanino variety, combining both traditional and modern characteristics and able to be grown in a variety of conditions. It has also produced the Zebra variety, which has a green and red striped skin.
CUCUMBER:
• Baby cucumbers of around 6-9cm in length are one of Zeraim’s latest ventures. With a high dry matter, the company says their crunchy taste is ideal as a snack food or for airline meals.
LETTUCE:
• Rijk Zwaan’s Salanova brand is beginning to take off and covers a portfolio of produce including tricolour peppers and cocktail cucumbers. The company is also looking at many innovative varieties of lettuce, including one similar to Lolla Rossa but with smaller, finger-like leaves that can mean less cut surfaces when prepared.
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