De Lier, The Netherlands
September 10, 2013

At Asia Fruit Logistica last week, Rijk Zwaan signed an agreement to work with Jyco in Hong Kong as the first company to cultivate and sell Salanova® on the domestic market.

With just one cut of the knife, Salanova falls apart into countless baby salad leaves, making it a truly unique concept. The product is already being grown across most of Asia, including Japan, China, Thailand and Indonesia, but this is a first for Hong Kong. “Since the climate there is very tropical, vegetables are imported from all over the world,” explains Jan Doldersum from Rijk Zwaan. “Our new partner Jyco will now be the first company in Hong Kong to grow Salanova hydroponically for the domestic market, thus reducing the country’s reliance on imported vegetables.”

Telling the Salanova story

The launch of Salanova in Hong Kong also offers growth opportunities since Jyco will be selling the product as a whole head of lettuce too – not only through retailers, but also through its own channels. “In the months ahead, we will be working together with Jyco to tell the Salanova story to consumers in Hong Kong and to convince them of the benefits of the ‘one cut ready’ principle,” comments Doldersum.

Rijk Zwaan will also help Jyco by providing technical advice on the product. The breeding company has spent the past two years extensively screening the existing Salanova assortment to identify the optimum varieties for the growing conditions in Hong Kong. “Together with Jyco, we want to make it even easier for Hong Kong’s 8 million inhabitants to prepare a wide variety of tasty and healthy salads.”

Rijk Zwaan is focused on the development of high-quality vegetable varieties for the professional horticultural sector under glass, in tunnels and in the ground. Its seeds are sold through its 29 subsidiaries across the world and used in more than 100 countries. Rijk Zwaan has a workforce of about 2000 and is one of the top 5 globally active vegetable breeding companies.

Website: http://www.rijkzwaan.nl

Published: September 10, 2013