Retailers, supermarkets and licensees of Sekoya®® were able to experience and taste Sekoya Pop™ ('FCM14-052') and Sekoya Beauty™ ('FCM12-097') blueberry varieties at the company’s Field & Forum, held on March 24, next to other open and other Fall Creek varieties. During the visit to the research and development facilities of Fall Creek Farm & Nursery in Seville (Andalucía, Spain), these two Sekoya Low/Zero Chill varieties were seen up close and tested to showcase their attributes.
Hans Liekens gives a presentation on the future of blueberries.
“With these premium varieties, we intend to conquer the most demanding consumers around the world,” said Holger Brandt, Sekoya's general manager. “The objective of this global marketing platform is to provide growers and retailers with consistent high quality in terms of firmness, size, flavor and shelf life 52 weeks a year."
The Sekoya Field & Forum was also an opportunity for attendees to learn about other varieties of its Fall Creek Open platform, such as Ventura or Blue Ribbon; or the Collection platform, with materials such as Azrablue, Atlasblue, Biancablue and Olympusblue. The event included a blind tasting where participants were able to taste and try to identify each of the varieties tasted and a presentation on the future of blueberries.
To date, Sekoya has introduced four proprietary varieties: Mid/High Chill Sekoya Grande™ ('FC13-122') and Sekoya Crunch™ ('FC13-083'); and Low/Zero Chill Sekoya Pop and Sekoya Beauty.
The group tours the Sekoya research and development facilities.
“The latter two, Sekoya Pop and Sekoya Beauty, have in common an extended life and size combined with superior flavor characteristics," says Estefanía Rodríguez, product and grower support at Sekoya. “Both Sekoya Pop and Sekoya Beauty have a very long post-harvest, between 45 and 60 days, and will remain crisp for more than 45 days. This means almost zero waste for retailers."
Rodríguez described Sekoya Pop as the "nearly perfect blueberry." “Those who were unable to attend this event will have another opportunity at Fruit Logistica in Berlin, held from April 5 to 7,” she said.
Sekoya is a strategic business unit for Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, based in the U.S. It began in 2020 with the goal of making high quality blueberries available to customers around the world. Sekoya blueberries can be grown anywhere and varieties are currently grown in the U.S., Spain, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Ukraine, Poland, Morocco, South Africa, Italy, Canada, Zimbabwe, France, The Netherlands, Germany and the UK, among other countries.
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Jodean Robbins Duarte
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