Enza Zaden has been developing mini conicals (pointed mini pepper varieties) for 25 years. Over the past decade, the renowned breeding company has focused primarily on developing seedless mini conical pepper varieties. This led to the market launch of the first varieties for commercial vegetable cultivation at the end of 2024. The flagship of this new product line is Tribelli Seedless, a range of seedless mini pointed peppers "that stands out thanks to its combination of genetics, stable quality, year-round availability, and excellent taste. It's no coincidence that Tribelli Seedless emerged as the most popular mini pepper (80%) in a series of independent blind tastings," reports the Enza Zaden team when asked. The variety innovation has already been nominated for this year's Fruit Logistica Innovation Award (FLIA 2026).
Tribelli Seedless is now grown in both northern and southern Europe so that the product can be offered to European food retailers all year round. "We started with red, seedless pointed peppers. Yellow and orange will follow soon so that we can offer the usual color mix. Experience has shown that it is particularly advantageous to offer red peppers as a single product, as they stand out particularly well on the shelf next to the usual color mix with seeds." According to Enza Zaden, the harvest window for Tribelli Seedless is comparable to that of normal mini pointed peppers.
© Hugo Huijbers | HortiDaily.com
The Enza Zaden team at this year's Fruit Logistica
Nutrient-rich and ready to eat
The development and introduction of new snack vegetable varieties is in line with a broader social trend, confirms Jessica Zomerdijk, Regional Marketing Manager at Enza Zaden. "On the one hand, a growing group of consumers is striving for a healthier lifestyle, while on the other hand, demand for ready-to-eat convenience products is increasing. For this reason, we see growth potential for the snack vegetable category and mini peppers in particular. These contain more vitamin C than oranges, for example. Now that mini peppers are also available seedless, they are also suitable for direct consumption. Our market research has shown that many consumers mainly eat regular mini peppers at home because they still need to be cut up due to the seeds. This effort is eliminated with seedless peppers. Another advantage is that seedless mini peppers produce less waste; after all, food waste is an important issue for many consumers today."
Encouraging results in terms of cultivation and sales
Cultivation trials to date indicate that the varieties are developing positively. "We work closely with our producers, sharing our experiences, evaluating, steering, and looking to the future together. One of the reasons for working with selected producers is precisely this close cooperation and 'co-creation'. One of the practical challenges in growing Tribelli Seedless was initially separating the two crops in larger greenhouses to prevent pollination by normal mini peppers. However, we now have this well under control."
In terms of marketing, they are also on the right track. "The initial discussions we had with our producers and decision-makers in the food retail sector were particularly positive, and the first listings are already in place. In collaboration with selected partner producers, we offer a seedless program, not individual varieties, to ensure consistent quality and increase awareness of the concept. We are also convinced that differentiation at the point of sale attracts consumers' attention and thus has a positive effect on sales. Consumers are open to the seedless innovation, but ultimately they have to be able to find it on the shelf."
For Enza Zaden and its partners, the coming season will be all about further developing and optimizing the Tribelli Seedless program. "It is important to work together to build more knowledge and experience in growing seedless peppers. In terms of sales, we expect demand from European retailers for seedless peppers to continue to rise due to their consumer appeal. This will enable us to give the pepper category a boost that will ultimately benefit the entire chain."
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