Innovation within Monsanto products: interview with Carl Rentes

FreshPlaza interviewed Carl Rentes, EMEA Business Development Lead. of Monsanto.

FP: Finding a product that meets the needs of farmers and consumers and adapts to the demands of distribution chains at the same time is a real challenge. How does Monsanto Vegetable Seeds approach its research line to accomplish this objective?

CR: Monsanto’s Vegetable Seed business has historically focused on supplying farmers with high quality hybrid seeds. Today, Monsanto is putting a lot of effort and resources into developing not only agronomic traits, but also consumer and chain traits. Consumers’ needs and wishes have strong influence on the downstream chain having direct impact on growers. Monsanto has a Consumer Benefits team working to recognize, identify and launch products that have a strong value for downstream chain and the consumer. We hope that by developing products with desirable traits, like excellent flavor and real nutritional benefits, people will enjoy eating more vegetables.

Carl Rentes during Fruit Logistica 2010. (Photo: FreshPlaza)

FP: Will innovation and research on varieties be determining in a near future?

CR: Innovation and research have always been and will remain a key focus for Monsanto.

FP: Is innovation important to Monsanto Vegetable Seeds, do you think it provides value?

CR: Today the whole chain is evaluating how to create value, and we are working together with partners to bring new, innovative products to consumers’ dinner tables. Our research and innovation focuses on developing new benefits and value for both growers and consumers. Our plant breeders are using traditional plant breeding techniques, marker-assisted breeding and advanced analytical methods to develop improved vegetables and fruits. These products aim to offer value through greater nutrition, better flavor, and improved agronomics. Our breeders also are working to improve products at both planting and harvest, by combating environmental factors that limit the plant’s output and by enhancing the product’s end-market features – including appearance and quality.

FP: What are the innovation projects that you are carrying out and which line are these framed in?

CR: Monsanto is focused on developing new, sustainable, high-quality varieties with the latest resistances to diseases and improving yield resulting in more produce produced with less crop inputs, like pesticides. Today more nutritious, tastier and convenient produce is also key to our framework. Examples such as Bellaverde® broccoli and Cosmopolitan™ lettuce are great examples of innovation in the field of
convenience and sensory fields. Evermild™ onion, a mild onion which causes you to have less tears in your eyes when you cut them, will be tested in some consumer markets later this year. These are some current examples, and our pipeline remains focused on developing products to meet both grower and consumer demands.

FP: The moments we are living make us foresee structural changes at all levels. Do you think that seed producers will also undergo those changes?

CR: One does not go without the other, and we recognize that to remain competitive and sustainable we need to adapt to face these new challenges to be successful tomorrow.

FP: Do you think that seed producers will play a more significant role in the future? Are you working on that sense?

CR: The genetics determines a part of the quality of the final produce, environment and growing practices are also very important. We do monitor with partners the quality at consumers level to improve the quality and consumer satisfaction. It is clear seed companies will play a more significant role in the future, and we strongly realise and understand our responsibility to help growers produce more with less, conserve more resources, and improve lives.

Further, FreshPlaza asked Francesco Boccia, Marketing Manager for Seminis in Italy, which novelties Seminis and De Ruiter Seeds will present next year.

"We are introducing a lot of new varieties on the market, contributing to enrich the available genetic inheritance and meeting all the needs of growers, retailers and consumers. Melons have a strategic role in the national and international market, that way we are investing so much in research and development of new varieties able to deliver high yield to growers, shelf life for distribution chains and taste and flavor to consumers. The new special varieties launched this year are the XP 7154 (picture below on the left) among the 'I Giusti' range and the XP 5864 (picture below on the right), one Golden range specially appreciated in the south of Italy and, in general, in the Mediterranean countries. The sweet taste combined with the long shelf life and the good productivity are key strategic factors of both varieties".

"Lettuce is also a very important crop for Monsanto in which we are investing proposing several new entries with focus on Gentiline and Cappuccio segments" said Boccia. "The new Cappuccio Rylane (picture below on the left) and RS 0001 (picture below on the right) are varieties on which we have high expectations for the coming summer season. Growers and Fresh Market will be able to enjoy very successful products. They will be able to conquer more and more market share".

Marketing Manager for De Ruiter Seeds in Italy – Lucio Colombo continued:  "For protected crops our main focuses are tomato and pepper. As for all the other crops we are in close touch with the whole chain to fully understand the needs and anticipate, as far as we can, the new emerging market trends. Protected tomato market is highly segmented and really dynamic and we are introducing new products in the main segments and in niche ones as well. We are launching the new truss DRW 7627 (picture on the side), a TYLCV intermediate resistant for Sicilian areas, and the green beef DRW 7805 (picture below) with exceptional fruit color and early cycle to be first on the retailer shelves and satisfying the most demanding consumers. Cherry truss 'Sogno' is our proposal for growers, traders, retailers and consumers looking for a premium cherry, outstanding for taste and colour too".

"Among peppers, the half long Yellow DSV 2074 (picture below on the left) improves our offer for Sicily while the new half long red 'Scintilla' (picture below on the right) for greenhouse spring growing in Central South Italy, both intermediate resistant to TSWV" said Colombo. "We pay a lot of attention to introduce disease resistances in our new hybrids to reduce chemicals treatments and benefit growers and final consumers as well".

"Last but not least, we have recently introduced Optifort and Unifort to complete our tomato rootstock assortment. As tomato rootstock leader we say 'find your own rootstock that really fits your specific needs and conditions'. It’s no longer time for one size fits all".