Author: avishag

Since May 19^th   2022, Ofer Peleg is the new Deputy CEO of Hazera. He will lead sales, supply chain, production and IT. “We have great ‘DNA’ in Hazera, but also opportunities and potential to become a well-integrated company and realize solid and robust processes.”

Ofer, fifty years old, lives near Tel Aviv, together with his wife and three children, aged 21, 18 and 13. He is used to work for several leading  companies in multicultural and dynamic environments. “I started as an industrial engineer in the pharma industry, and stayed there for about twenty years. At Teva pharmaceuticals, the Israeli global generic leader, I served in various positions in both R&D and Operations, where my last role was to manage three large facilities in Europe, for that role I moved with my family to Amsterdam for two years. After that I became vice-president of the Global supply chain at Sun pharmaceuticals , a global Indian pharma company. In the last four years I was the vice-president of the Global supply chain at Netafim, a global leader in precision irrigation. “At Netafim I focused on the same customers and ambition as Hazera; helping farmers to get the best out of their crops for both quantity and quality.”

Go the extra mile
“I got a very warm welcome, both at Hazera and Limagrain, there is a strong sense of partnership. The people I have met enjoy their profession and are very enthusiastic, willing to go above and beyond  to serve our customers. They know that by doing so, they are making the world a better place. Shortly after I started at Hazera, I was lucky to meet many of my colleagues at the annual Limagrain conference in Prague.

Marathon run
“I just started my learning, there is a huge knowhow and great professionalism here” says Ofer. But our competitors are not waiting for us, and we have to be agile, flexible and focus on quality. We can’t stop, not even for a minute; we are running a marathon and we want to finish first. There is also an opportunity for becoming a well-integrated company and realizing solid and robust processes.”

Way of working
“We produce seeds all over the world; How can we do this as efficient as possible? What is our optimal footprint?, How to optimize our inventory?  How can we  leverage our capabilities?  In my former positions I have helped answering similar kinds of questions. I’m looking forward to share my experience and contribute to Hazera.”

Hazera, part of Limagrain Group, is a specialist in the development, production and marketing of onion seed. The breeders have been working on strong varieties of excellent quality since the 1950s. The distribution of new, improved onion varieties is a slow process that can sometimes take more than 25 years. It is therefore important to have a good vision of what the market needs. What are the trends?

“For years the focus within the company has been on breeding and cultivation in the local markets, but since 2008, when Hazera was formed in its current form, there has been a complete global focus,” said Reinout de Heer, Global Product Manager Allium. “Onions are sensitive to day length. The length of the day determines the moment of bulb formation of the onion. Different varieties are therefore more or less suitable for cultivation per day length zone; from short day onions to extra long day onions. Due to the global focus, development programs and knowledge can be combined. This has given the worldwide cultivation, production and sale of high-quality onion seed a significant boost.”

More sales opportunities
Onions are a daily ingredient in the kitchen for many people worldwide. And although an onion is not sold at variety level in the supermarket. There you just buy a yellow, white, pink or red onion. The variety is important to the growers. Pablo Salgado, Onion Breeder: “They are focussing on disease resistance, skin quality, firmness and yield. Hazera is constantly working on innovations in this area in order to achieve the best onion with the highest yield for growers, processors and buyers. An example is the development of varieties that are suitable for multiple processing options, so that the grower has more possibilities in terms of sales opportunities.”

Growth
Semiagro, Peru: “The Peruvian onion market has grown thanks to the fantastic work of the collaboration between Semiagro and Hazera. With 17,500 hectares of planted cultivation area, the onion crop is positioned as the highest-producing vegetable in the Peruvian market.
The national consumption of pink onions represents 83% and 17% for the export market (mainly granex for the US). In addition, the conditions for the onion grower have improved, the possibilities for the national and export potential market for wholesalers have increased and the consumer has access to better quality onions.”

Superior material
Semiagro and Hazera have been working together for more than two decades on the development of hybrid onion varieties in Peru. Today, the Sivan F1 is the leading variety on the market and is recognized throughout the chain for its characteristics: excellent post-harvest, good skin retention, beautiful color and thin necks.

There are already promising trials for early onions. Year after year we see superior material from 3 new varieties (10414, 10416 and 10417), the result of 19 years of trials.”

Harvesting by machine
Within the yellow short day onions segment, the trend is to produce more uniform round onions. A change that is necessary, because manual harvesting and processing is becoming too expensive. Pablo: “By making sure the onions are more uniform and round, they can be harvested and sorted more easily by machine. Maintaining qualities such as firmness, skin retenation and disease resistance is very important.”

Golden combination
In New Zealand and the Netherlands, many onions are destined for export. Reinout: “The onions must also remain of high quality during and after transport. Skin retention and firmness are important elements for good quality onions. In addition, the net yield must be good. As a grower you can get a high yield from the field, but in the end you get paid for the yield upon delivery. Excellent quality and high net yield is the golden combination.

Rhinestone
Steve McArthur – Vigour, New Zealand: “Ten years ago, the New Zealand onion industry was upgraded with the first large-scale planting of the Dutch-bred onion, Rhinestone. The onion yield for the growers has increased by more than 10% since then. Rhinestone leads the way in terms of reliability and quality, not only for growers, but also for others in the chain, such as exporters, packers and retailers.

Listening to local growers
Hazera’s breeders first listened to local growers. They created Rhinestone by combining local New Zealand genetics with the best genetics from other regions. The result: a hybrid with geographical adaptability, but also a long shelf life, high yield, great taste, firm bulbs and very good skin retention.

New Zealand plays an important role in filling the gap between the old and new season onions in Western Europe. Shipping onions for a journey across the equator for six to ten weeks requires an onion with many excellent qualities.
Rhinestone offers growers the certainty that they deliver quality to the other side of the world.

Climate and red onions
Other developments that Hazera is paying attention to are irrigation solutions and red onions. Pablo: “The climate is changing. We are conducting tests so that we can respond effectively to longer periods of drought or more precipitation.” Reinout continues: “And the market for red onions is growing. We are expanding our portfolio in all segments. Both in the short day and in the extra long day, with our latest introduction, for example, the Redrover. This extra long day red onion has a long shelf life and is very suitable for use in salads.”

In recent years we have witnessed various trends in the consumption of vegetables and fruits.
One of the most notable trends is in the watermelon category.

Not inconvenient anymore
Watermelon was long perceived as inconvenient. Especially with decreasing households, watermelons were found too big, giving too much waste and too heavy to carry. Also the lack of good taste and quality was a reason for people to buy other fruits. With the introduction of the high quality, high tasting seedless mini and midi watermelons, consumption is increasing rapidly, in some countries over 10% in the last 5 years. Watermelons are used as a healthy snack, during dinner or lunch or as refreshing drink.

3rd choice of consumers
Watermelon is gaining popularity worldwide staying in the top 5 of fresh consumed fruits globally. In the European Union watermelon is the 3rd choice of consumers as refreshment after apples and oranges. In USA watermelon is 3rd choice after bananas and apples. With the COVID pandemic people started to focus even more on health. Another push forward for watermelon consumption.

Yearround offering
Hazera’s global experience in the watermelon industry provides solutions that fit the needs of all partners in the fresh chain now and in the future through close collaboration. Due to our intensive breeding efforts we are able to offer year round, high quality, high tasting watermelons.

New launches in Spain
Hazera launched 3 new seedless watermelon varieties in Murcia, Spain targeted for the South European watermelon producers:
• Margay, a uniform, crunchy, great tasting midi watermelon with great feedback from Spanish retailers targeting 2 categories at the same time: fresh cut & fresh.
In the mini seedless category 2 novelties were highlighted for the Spanish production:
• 50037 a mini of 1.3-2.1 kg featuring excellent crunch and taste which was very well appreciated by retailers.
• Latest newcomer 50041 a nice, red round watermelon with excellent shelf life capacity is showing good results in both indoor in Almeria as well as the open field in Murcia.

Looking for more insights? Or curious on the solutions we can offer?
Contact us. We are happy to meet.

Mark van der Zouwen
Cucurbits Global Product Manager
Mark.van.der.zouwen@hazera.com

Arjan van Steekelenburg
Chain Manager Fresh Produce
Arjan.van.steekelenburg@hazera.com

Yoav Levy
Cucurbits Regional Product Manager
Yoav.levy@hazera.com

Hazera has been developing and selling primed onion seeds since 2009. This experience translates into the market as the share of primed seeds is increasing. Many growers are discovering the benefits. Primed seeds can ensure faster crop development after sowing, more uniformity in the crop and final product and better quality onions. That is why it is also interesting for you.

In short, seed priming is the process of activating the early stages of germination. After priming, the seed is sown and packed in the same way. Seedlings that have been primed will emerge faster and the position, will therefore, be more uniform. As the first germination stage between sowing and emergence is shorter, the seeds are less affected by weather influences.

Flexible sowing time
Adam Prabucki, Onion Product Manager says: “Climate change means we have to deal with extreme conditions in the field more often. Spring is getting shorter and it’s getting warmer much earlier. This means that the sowing period seems to be shorter. Because primed seeds are already in a further development stage, they germinate faster at low temperatures and the crop will be above the ground sooner and develop faster.”

Growth cycle
A big misconception is that you can harvest onions from primed seeds earlier. Adam says: “That’s not the case. The length of the day determines the growth cycle of onions. Priming the seeds does not affect the growth cycle, it remains the same. However, you can save costs by using primed seeds, because you need less seed for the same yield as with regular onion seed. Due to the controlled process of priming in the laboratory, the chance of germination is better. And due to the more uniform germination, the loss in the early stages of growth is also less. You can save up to 10% on seeds.”

Less plant damage
With primed seeds, the plants emerge more uniform. They are in the same stage of development and need the same treatment at the same time. This makes the weed control program easier to apply. This results in less plant damage. A clean field without weeds also means less damage to the bulbs, so better quality and storage potential. Due to the faster emergence, for example, there is also less chance of onion fly. And the optimum harvest time is easier to determine with uniform plants.

Limitations
The advantages are great, although there are also some limitations. Adam says: ”We advise not to sow too late in the season as the soil dries up too quickly. If there are no options for irrigating, the primed seeds in a dried-up seedbed can die, because the connection with the deeper soil layers has not yet been reached. If onions sprout quicker, there may be too little water available for growth. This may lead to a lower plant population. It is also better not to store primed seeds for use in another year, as the growth cycle has already started.”

Contact with crop specialists
Hazera can supply primed seeds of all varieties. Our crop specialists are happy to advise on how these seeds can contribute to a successful high-quality harvest. They support and guide you with tailor-made advice, also during your cultivation.