A few days ago at our NCX Drahorad office we received a sample of blueberries for Italian Berry.
It was an opportunity to discuss the characteristics of this sample with Tanguy Debiesse, Strategy Director of Royal Group.
Thank you for this welcome gift! Can you explain what it is about?
This particular fruit, which we sent you to test, is part of our Royal Blu Aroma® family, and this unique flavour profile of aromatic fruit is now available at Royal from our farms in Morocco during our 8-month season.
Where did this variety programme originate?
It's a story that goes back a long way, both in time and space. With our knowledge and genetics, Royal was able to start planting the first blueberries ever planted in Morocco 15 years ago. In those days, our season in Morocco started at the end of February and ended in June.
Now, after more than 15 years of field experience and hard work in research and development observing more than 100,000 seedlings, endless tests in all areas, especially in agronomic routes, we are able to offer you a real quality blueberry with a significant volume already in November.
When are blueberries available?
Being able to offer an origin, a farmer and a taste profile for 8 months is a real milestone in the blueberries industry.
Although the volume for this season in November will be limited, we foresee a great opportunity to provide our customers with special taste experiences of freshness and full aromatic flavour during the very important end-of-year period.
What are the characteristics of this type of blueberries?
The flavour-focused approach has been part of Royal's research and development DNA for the past 40 years. Bringing a similar pleasant flavour throughout the season means customers will repeat the purchase.
What about the innovative packaging in which you present the product?
We are very proud to present our fruit in a brand new cardboard box. Surely, it is the most sustainable packaging for berries on the market to date.
It is in Royal's culture to develop long-term partnerships to innovate. This revolutionary packaging is the result of such a partnership with one of Europe's industry leaders.
This version is not yet 100% plastic-free as the window is still made of PET (11% of the total package), but we are currently testing solutions to replace it with cellulose so that it can be recycled like paper.
The sample you sent us is 225g net. Have you planned other formats?
It is available in 3 formats: 125g-175g-225g and soon a larger 400/500g pia format.
What are the advantages of this packaging?
The special shape of this package allows us to:
- Reduce the overall amount of packaging by 30%,
- Reduce CO2 emissions by 48%,
- Achieve extreme transport efficiency with over 50% more blueberries transported per truck.
- Improving customer interaction with cardboard communication support (small series can be easily handled in cardboard printing).
Royal is a Spanish company: what is your position in Morocco?
This turnaround will strengthen Royal's position as a leader in the Moroccan blueberries , where we accounted for over 60% of the volume exported by the end of January and over 50% by the end of February (Source: EACCE).
THE RESULTS OF THE PANEL TEST OF ITALIAN BERRY
Italian Berry subjected this sample to an internal panel test.
The 30 participants in the tasting gave an independent assessment on a scale of 1 to 5.
Outwardly, the fruits are fairly uniform in size between 15 mm and 18 mm. They are characterised by a pronounced inflorescence: the 'tufts' are slightly more leathery than the skin and have been found to be not entirely pleasant by some.
Packaging generally received positive ratings, although it was pointed out that the plastic window was a negative factor in the environmental sustainability assessment.
This is the fourth panel test conducted by Italian Berry. The Royal Blue Aroma samples received higher average ratings than those found in previous tests.
Here are the results of the other sensory analyses:
