hazera runs an experimental field next to nir chen, where the company develops new variants of a number of vegetables which are grown in open fields (including tomato, melon, pepper, watermelon, cabbage, lettuce, eggplant and more), as well as a number of variants of greenhouse tomatoes. the company held an “open day” on july 9th at their facility in nir chen.
hazera’s different division mangers and researchers welcomed the visitors, and conducted tours in the fields to provide see the different varieties up close, to examine their growth environments, and even taste the differences.
itzik ezra, hazera’s marketing manager in israel, said: “the annual meeting which was held this year in nir chen enables us to stay connected to the growers and to present the latest developments in the field to them. additionally, this is an opportunity for us to get feedback from them on the different varieties, as well as suggestions for improvement. hazera is constantly working on the development of new varieties that will meet our audience’s highest standards.”
so what’s new?hazera introduced two new and surprising varieties at the open day:
puma variety of personal watermelon – developed in israel by eran yusuv, a developer at hazera. this is a small watermelon, 1.5-2.5 kg, easy to carry, cut, store and serve. it’s suitable for families and healthy, and provides quality while minimizing waste.
puma is groundbreaking in its quality and excellent taste.puma has a bright red color, high brix (sugar), a crunchy texture and high uniformity.
puma was developed for the american market, where small personal watermelons hold about a third of the market. puma’s high quality has already drawn interest from a number of leading european chains.
tudela eggplant – a black queen variant, excellent baladi eggplant, sweeter than a regular eggplant which absorbs less oil when fried. tudela has an oval-heart shape and is suitable for growing in open fields.
