A smaller broccoli, mini cauliflower and hamburger lettuce.
About a third of all fruits and vegetables are thrown away. The sector thinks that this percentage should be reduced. All new varieties were presented during the open days in week 39. Many seed companies open their doors every year. Customers from all over the world travel to the Netherlands to admire the new crops in real life. Including the smaller vegetable varieties. And these veggies are so interesting, smaller vegetables simply means less waste!
The broccoli stems in the trashcan? No way! This is about 100 grams of vegetables! Moreover, the stem is full of vitamins and we should actually eat it. Syngenta has developed a broccoli that is smaller, with all kinds of thin stems, so the consumers eat the stems more often. This is broccoli is easy to prepare, and the stem will not be thrown away. Same with the mini cauliflowers for small households. Practical, healthy and tasty!
Another innovation is the hamburger lettuce. This leaf of lettuce is exactly the size of a hamburger bun. The lettuce is a bit thicker and crunchier, and because of the thickness of the lettuces it has a longer shelf life.
To develop these new varieties, seed breeding is necessary. Plants with good quality (such as a long, thin stem) are consciously crossed with each other through a natural process. If you do this often precisely, you will get new varieties. It takes about 7 years for a new variety to develop.
When will this new vegetables be on your plate? Growers and representatives around the world have visit the fields. The mini cauliflower is the first of these vegetables available on the Biritsh market for a large group of customers! Who knows, the new varieties may also be available in our supermarket next year!
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