The watermelon market in South Africa has for some years been lackluster, punching below its weight, believes Jandri Venter, Rijk Zwaan product developer of watermelons and melons. "It's been a stagnating category, and the best answer has been to differentiate the crop category by introducing new concepts like the Tropical watermelon category alongside traditional red watermelons. There is no chance for expansion unless you come with something new to the market."
Retailer Woolworths agrees and has acquired the exclusive right to Rijk Zwaan's Tropical Sunshine RZ yellow watermelon cultivar and widely offering it since November 2024. A small group of watermelon growers, both in the north and the south of the country are growing it and supplying Woolworths with it all through summer.
Venter points out that no red watermelon hectares have been cut to make space for the yellow fruit. It is a complete novelty to most South Africans, many of whom told in-store fruit promoters that they had expected it to taste less like watermelon and more like a pineapple. Nevertheless, people are curious to try it and are easily persuaded after tasting it by its flavour. The cultivar lends itself to processing, too, with minimal wastage.
Watermelon exports
Rekindling watermelon exports is another prong to their approach, and Venter has accompanied South African watermelon growers to their counterparts in Ceará State, Brazil, where the fruit is grown under similar conditions and then shipped to Europe.
Right: Konrad Marais from Woolworths with Jandri Venter, Rijk Zwaan, seeing how Brazilian watermelon growers are doing it
"From them, we've seen that it can be done," he remarks. "That's for sure the next thing we'd like to target."
Tropical Sunshine RZ is also being planted elsewhere – in Spain, and Brazil – but not at the scale with which it is expanding in South Africa.
For more information:
Jandri Venter
Rijk Zwaan South Africa
Tel: +27 61 120 3082
Email: info@rijkzwaan.co.za
https://www.rijkzwaan.co.za/