BERLIN, GERMANY - As attendees have descend upon the final day of the Fruit Logistica exhibition, Bayer is continuing its three day focus of showcasing fresh produce innovations, including hydroponic lettuce, colored carrots, and a new snack vegetable label. Beyond its produce-specific introductions, Bayer is highlighting its wide array of Food Chain Partnership activities and new collaborations.

Each year, Bayer’s Vegetable Seeds team of Bayer uses Fruit Logistica to launch some of its most exiting fresh produce innovations. For instance, Bayer has extended its focus on the massively growing trend of hydroponic lettuce for 2017, spotlighting a few of the growing methods benefits:  

• Producing in a greenhouse means that growers are not dependent on the weather—growers get results sooner and can harvest more often
• Hydroponic lettuce is easier to handle because they do not have to wash the crop intensively
• Consumers can buy a sustainably produced product that requires fewer crop protection products during the growing stage

According to a press release, Bayer is also presenting a new colored snack carrot design based on different Nunhems™ Imperator varieties that contains four different colors. Each variety is equipped with its own taste and health components, as well as a unique disease resistance. Bayer reported that, compared to traditional carrots, they are crispier, sweeter, and have a more attractive color.  

Finally, the company is continuing to showcase its recently launched Minigustos™ snacking veggie label, which we announced earlier this month.

Beyond its direct produce innovations, Bayer is also focusing on its Food Chain Partnership initiative—based on delivering tailored integrated solutions that address the individual local challenges of growers and the supply chain.

"We don’t have ready-made solutions," explained Ronald Guendel, Global Head of Food Chain Relations at the Crop Science division of Bayer. "In all our projects, we check out the situation on site, talk to our partners to find out which needs they really have. With this understanding we then develop individual action plans and provide growers with the tools to meet those needs." 

The company said the initiative has experienced rapid growth over the past decade, and currently consists of about 70 Food Chain Managers from Bayer, who are active in 30 countries around the world, and focus on more than 50 different crops.  

The Food Chain Relations team is highlighting five interesting new collaborations at its Fruit Logistica booth, including: 

• A partnership with the Dutch trading organization Cefetra that is seeking to raise soybean production standards and encourage sustainable growing practices
• A Brazilian project that features responsible production and certification of potatoes
• A new collaboration from the Ivory Coast looks at the implementation of integrated pest management, training for growers and certification in cocoa production
• A vegetable project in the Dominican Republic focused on significantly reducing the application of chemical crop protection products
• A Guatemalan vegetable partnership, Bayer supports to build up an organic production program

And this is not even all that Bayer has in store for attendees of Fruit Logista, so stay tuned for further updates on everything the company has in the works for 2017.

Bayer