Innovative products tailored for tough economic times

From February 8-10, at the influential Berlin show, Nunhems will present its wide range of seed products, designed to appeal to professionals involved in bringing fresh, convenient and tasty food to consumers including growers, logistics operators, wholesalers, retailers and food service providers. A number of the new products are tailored to the current economic climate and likely to prove attractive to customers for that reason alone.

Intense™ ‘The Chef’s Tomato’
Taking pride of place on the stand will be its successful Intense™ specialty tomato range. To reinforce its quality message, the company has added a new positioning to the Intense name: ‘The Chef’s Tomato’, identifying it as an essential ingredient for professional users and an aspirational one for amateur cooks. “We want to target people who love cooking for their work or their hobby, and tell them that this product is perfect for them,” says Daniel Kretzschmar, Nunhems Produce Chain Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Many visitors will be aware of the range’s major benefits as the world’s first non-leak tomato, making it an ideal product to dice, slice or cut without losing its shape. But its waste reducing properties will now be an increasingly attractive element for customers faced with today’s harsh economic climate.

Waste levels during the cutting process are only 5%, so customers get more slices, dices or parts, per cut tomato, with considerable cost-savings. Remarkably, because of its non-leak properties, 17% to 30% extra weight is retained at slicing/dicing, so there’s a better yield, with less waste and no mess.

This year, the addition of new larger and rounder sizes and shapes, from 80-140g, means that customers can now choose their tomatoes on the basis of shape or size, providing a much broader range of usage than before, as well as even less waste.

For instance, different sizes and shapes can be selected specifically for oven-dishes like pizzas, lasagnas and layered casserole tians. It also helps considerably with the preparation of salads and sandwiches for both in- and out-of-home consumption, as well as innovative creations like tomato-carpaccios. The larger sizes also open up new potential markets for the company such as the burger sector.

To provide an essential ‘hands on’ element, enabling visitors to experience the product for themselves, Nunhems will have a ‘prep’ booth on the stand where they can try the tomatoes out for themselves, with a trained chef on hand to offer any necessary advice. “We want our customers to experience the product for themselves, as well as have some fun with some different recipes,” adds Daniel Kretzschmar.

Meanwhile, a new website (www.intensetomatoes.com) spells out the benefits for the foodservice and fresh cut industries, as well as breaking down the various areas of use for the different sizes and shapes. A number of language options will be rolled out throughout the year.

Other benefits of the Intense ‘The Chef’s Tomato’ range are that it allows for thin slicing and dicing for decorated plates, bruschettas and carpaccios, as well as avoiding soggy sandwiches because of its non-leak properties. It means that cut tomatoes can be used for prepared salads without spoiling other ingredients.

The product itself has a high viscosity and deep red internal color, making better and more natural soups and juices, with no need for additives to get good consistency. Meanwhile, its structure means that it is excellent for baking, grilling or cooking and keeps its taste properties. It is available all year round and has a very long shelf life.


Other major developments on the stand include:

Kirene Kirene represents a major breakthrough as the first Galia melon that shows when it is fully mature and ready to harvest, thus avoiding waste – a key factor in today’s purchasing decisions. The melon changes skin color from green to brilliant yellow when it’s ready to harvest, so unripe Galia should be a thing of the past. As well as this, Kirene retains its sweet fragrance of tradition, great taste and firmness from field to mouth.
Premium Takeaway Watermelon Ideally sized from 2.5-4kg, this breakthrough new watermelon is aimed at the needs of a modern family, being a portable size - handy for shopping and a convenient size to store at home. The more user-friendly size avoids the inevitable waste involved in consuming larger products, where a percentage is invariably thrown away. It also offers the benefits of having an attractive striped skin, a sweet and refreshing taste, very small edible seeds and an affordable price.
Magenta Melon The best known cantaloupe on the market, Magenta offers a truly enjoyable eating experience to consumers. It’s a strong fruit, with an excellent shelf life, and consequently also tailored for the current economic times. Multileaf Lettuce Multileaf lettuce is proving an increasingly attractive option in the foodservice sector in particular, and Nunhems provides an assortment of colors and shapes with a long life, crispy texture and indulgent product in general. Specific benefits include its non-wilt properties, good volume structure to fill bags or plates or display, small leaves and a full set of varieties to cover seasons and colors. It is now available all-year round.

Sandwich Vegetable Assortment
A big hit at last year’s show, the range of four vegetables continues to offer major benefits to the sandwich industry. It includes: the Intense Tomato, Green Glace salad, Arnaud cucumber and the Vaquero onion, formulated to suit milder Northern European tastes. The range has already been taken on by UK sandwich manufacturer Raynor Foods, which includes Buckingham Palace amongst its customers, and two large Italian sandwich chains. All the varieties are adapted specifically to the needs of the industry.


About Nunhems
The vegetable seed business of Bayer CropScience operates under the name of 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 2,500 varieties in 28 vegetable crops, including leading varieties of carrot, cucumber, leek, lettuce, melon, onion, pepper, tomato and watermelon. With more than 1,700 employees, Nunhems is present in all major vegetable production areas in the world.

Contacts
Daniel Kretzschmar, phone: +33 614 708 837
E-mail: daniel.kretzschmar@bayer.com

Laura Santamaria, phone: +34 96 159 42 28
E-mail: laura.santamaria@bayer.com


Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.