Bayer releases second white paper to highlight market opportunities for more diversity in cucumbers

Today’s consumer food market is more flexible than ever before. Decision making on how, when, why and which kind of food to buy has changed – driven by convenience, individualization, local 4 local, healthiness and digitalization amongst others. Those changing consumer habits might become a challenge for the industry, but offer a lot of opportunities at the same time. In this second edition in her series of white papers, vegetable seed specialist Nunhems will step into market drivers and show how to translate them into business opportunities for cucumbers.

 

Insights in Market Trends and Opportunities for short cucumbers
 

Driven by convenience, taste and healthfulness, the global snacking market is expected to expand from US$ 374 billion in 2014 to US$ 635 billion in 2020. Chocolate still is the favorite snack, closely followed by fresh fruit and vegetables, whose market share is significantly increasing. Cucumbers follow this trend, even though the market share of short cucumbers in Europe and NAFTA is still limited to 5 to 10 percent of the total cucumber market.
 

• Where do short cucumbers come from?

• How are they rooted in various cultures?

• And what are the key drivers behind the growth of short cucumber consumption in Europe and Norther America?

This white paper shows how recent consumer trends can be translated to new business opportunities for short cucumbers and ways of marketing and commercializing them.

 

A Cultivation Perspective
 

In high tech circumstances, the majority of short cucumbers are grown in high-wire systems. This white paper also provides a brief explanation of the agronomical and technical aspects of the production of short cucumbers in this state-of-the-art- system and gives insights from a breeding perspective.

 

 

Since high-wire cucumber cultivation has received a serious boost in the Netherlands in 2009, Bayer actively develops specialized high-wire genetics and cultivation technologies. The Nunhems HiRevolution varieties are one of the driving factors. With its series of white papers ‘The Only Way is Up’ Bayer is sharing its extensive knowledge and field insights as a market leader in the Netherlands and ambassador of high-wire cultivation areas across the globe.

 

 

The first edition of Bayer white papers in the ‘The Only Way is Up’ series was published in February 2017, covering the state of the art growing system for high-wire, the basics of high-wire and how to steer and optimize crops. The third edition in the series is under construction. It will focus on artificial lighting in high-wire cucumber cultivation. There will also be special editions covering subjects that are relevant to other interested parties in the chain, such as traders and retailers.