Category: Publications

Bringing fresh, healthy and sustainable vegetables to our partners worldwide

Hazera and HM.CLAUSE, part of the Limagrain Group, will be present at Fruit Logistica from 5th to 7th February in Berlin. Michał Taraska and Manuel Ferrer, each leading the fresh chain approach for Hazera and HM.CLAUSE, will discuss their collaboration at their shared booth (A-50 in hall 1.2), highlighting innovative products and how collaboration strengthens the valuechain.

Innovative solutions for the fresh chain
Over three days, visitors will discover solutions derived from our well-matched product portfolios. Michał explains: “both companies will contribute their unique expertise and diverse offerings through our collaboration. This is further strengthened by our shared ambition: bringing fresh, healthy and sustainable vegetables to our partners worldwide.

As joint forces, HM.CLAUSE and Hazera will present a wide selection of products at Fruit Logistica, with a special focus on tomato and watermelon varieties. “The range of our combined assortment is one of our key strengths,” Manuel emphasizes.

Portfolio HM.Clause
“Our Oxheart tomato range, including Dossimo and Flamansun, offers a vibrant color spectrum from red flame and brown to yellow,” Manuel explains. “Intuitivo and Curioso are two cherry tomato varieties that boast ToBRFV resistance. The Freeman variety represents our mid-sized tomatoes, known for their delicious taste and suitability for six-pack packaging.” Manuel also highlights HM.CLAUSE’s melon range: “With varieties like Piel de Sapo, Galia, and the Cormoran in cantaloupes, our portfolio at Fruit Logistica showcases excellent taste, shelf life, and fruit quality.”

Portfolio Hazera
For Michał and Hazera, the focus is on healthy snack tomato varieties, especially the mini plum tomato Windsor. “This variety excels in virus resistance, high yield, 21-day shelf life and a more sustainable production process,” Michael explains. “With the upcoming yellow cherry tomato HA 49040, the first yellow cherry with ToBRFV (IR) resistance, we upgrade on the Summersun, a proven market leader in taste. Our third healthy snack tomato is the Tentadero, an umami-rich cherry tomato with a distinctive green-to-brown colour.”

In watermelons, Hazera continues to drive innovation with varieties like Exotica, Lynx, the Exceed-range, or novelties Mufasa – tiger type. “These hand-sized seedless watermelons are available year-round, and are known for their exceptional flavour and long shelf life,” Michał adds.

A strong and full shelf partnership
The collaboration between HM.CLAUSE and Hazera is built on years of experience. “Both sides bring deep knowledge and expertise,” says Manuel. Having led the development of key projects like Adora for HM.CLAUSE and Rosamunda for Hazera tomatoes, Manuel and Michal ensure that clients receive more comprehensive solutions, personal attention, and better results.

We are looking forward to seeing you at Fruit Logistica.
Meet us at our booth: A-50 in hall 1.2

For more information, please contact:
Rosaline Hazenbroek: rosaline.hazenbroek@hazera.com
Veronique Lafanechere: veronique.lafanechere@hmclause.com
www.hazera.com / https://www.hmclause.com/foodchain-retail/ or check our social
channels

The collaboration between Hazera and BeeHero will focus on BeeHero’s Pollination Insights Platform (PIP), whose aim is to provide farmers with precise information about pollination activity in seed fields

Tel Aviv, ISRAEL, January 15, 2025 – Hazera, a global vegetable seeds company and part of Limagrain Group’s vegetable seeds division, and BeeHero, the pioneer of data-driven precision pollination, announced a collaboration to evaluate BeeHero’s Pollination Insight Platform (PIP) for monitoring pollinators in seed production fields around the globe. This collaboration is the result of several years of joint efforts, including the use and evaluation of PIP in various seed fields.

According to Avi Gabai, Production Research Manager at Hazera, “As a leading company in the vegetable seed industry and part of the global Limagrain Group, we are excited to collaborate with a company specializing in precision pollination. Our ongoing collaboration with BeeHero since 2019 demonstrates that BeeHero’s technology can address one of the most critical challenges in modern agriculture – pollination. Our collaboration has shown that BeeHero’s technology can improve pollination efficiency, hive quality, and address the issue of bee colony loss.”

Efficient pollination is essential for seed production and agriculture in general, affecting yield and crop quality. Approximately 75% of major food crops depend on pollinators, with the honeybee being one of the most important pollinators in nature. The modern pollination industry, based on the transportation of beehives to fields during the pollination season, faces challenges such as declining bee populations and hive strength. Therefore, improving pollination efficiency is crucial to ensuring crop yield and quality. This is equally true for crops used in seed production, which have high economic value and strategic importance for human survival.

The Pollination Insights Platform (PIP) developed by BeeHero aims to ensure the pollination process and to provide real-time actionable information to farmers. This system includes IoT sensors installed in fields that collect various data on pollinator activity, the extent of flower visits where pollination occurs, and changing environmental conditions. This information is translated into actionable insights using artificial intelligence to improve pollination efficiency. Until now, this data was collected manually, partially, and inefficiently, so this solution can help farmers increase their overall productivity. The PIP system complements BeeHero’s in-hive sensors, enhancing their functionality.

The current collaboration between the two companies includes monitoring seed production fields in Israel and France, with plans to expand to additional regions in future seasons. The sensors installed in these fields measure bee activity, pollination distribution, bee behavior throughout the day, and other insights transmitted in real time to farmers, enabling them to maximize pollination capabilities in their fields – and consequently, the yield and quality of the seeds.

According to Omer Davidi, CEO and Co-Founder of BeeHero, “We are excited about our collaboration with Hazera, which combines extensive knowledge in seed production with advanced sensor technology and AI-based analytics to drive significant improvements in crop yield and quality while promoting sustainable agricultural practices. PIP allows for efficient pollination management for the first time, demonstrating how data and technology can advance an industry that has so far operated without measurement and transparency. We’re looking forward to continue working together with Hazera to optimize pollination for seed production and ensure the food supply for generations to come.”

Avi Gabai adds, “The heart of the collaboration lies in combining BeeHero’s technology with Hazera’s agricultural expertise. We support sustainable farming methods by improving bee health and ensuring more efficient resource use. Feedback we received from growers shows that data analysis from BeeHero’s system provided practical insights for beekeepers and farmers, and assisted them to optimize production methods and could potentially increase overall yield. By using BeeHero’s technology, we aim to increase seed yield and reduce yield volatility through remote monitoring of pollination activity.”

According to Gabai, “As part of the Limagrain Group, we promote innovative agricultural methods worldwide and implement them within the group. The collaboration with BeeHero represents a significant step forward in improving bee health, pollination efficiency, and advancing agricultural innovation.”

For more information, please contact:
Caroline Schonck, caroline.schonck@hazera.com
www.hazera.com / or check our social channels

HAZERA: Growing Together

Hazera Seeds is a global company that develops, produces, and commercialize  seed varieties and is a global leader in the seed industry. Hazera has headquarters in both the Netherlands and Israel and operates subsidiaries in 11 countries, together with a distribution network serving over 130 markets.
Hazera is part of the Limagrain Group, an international farmers’ cooperative based in France. Limagrain has grown into the largest seed company in Europe, specializing in vegetables, field crops and cereals. The vegetable seed division at Limagrain is the largest in the industry.

About BeeHero
BeeHero is a data-driven technology company redefining pollination in commercial agriculture. Using advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence, and low-cost IoT sensors, BeeHero brings transparency and efficiency to the complex logistics of commercial crop pollination. Its Precision Pollination as a Service (PPaaS) and Pollination Insights Platform (PIP) contribute to better crop yields and increased profits for commercial crop growers and agribusiness stakeholders. The company is headquartered in Fresno, California, with offices in Australia and Peru and an R&D center in Tel Aviv, Israel.

“We must strive for quality and excellence in all aspects, to truly make the difference”.
Tom Antens returned to Hazera on 1st July 2023 as Head of the Commercial Department. “Even though Hazera is a strong brand in many markets, there’s still a lot of room to grow and new markets to explore. I see a lot of potential”, said Tom.

Tom is 47 years old and lives in Baarle-Nassau, the Netherlands, with his wife and two children. He previously as Sales Manager for the Middle East, North-Africa and Oceania. He later joined HM Clause as Business Manager. “I was in charge of leading and structuring all business activities in Turkey, a fast-growing subsidiary, as well as the commercial activities in the Middle East and North-Africa”.
During the past four years, Tom has worked for HM Clause as Commercial Director for Turkey, Algeria, EMEA Export and Africa, overseeing sales for these high-growth markets. “In this period, I also fulfilled the role of board member of a joint venture that HM Clause had with Seed Co. in Africa. We worked to combine their established brand awareness on the continent and our products to cater for the rising needs of African growers for hybrid vegetable seeds.”

Team effort
Now, returning with significant experience, Tom is excited to be back at Hazera. “I’m looking forward to working with both new and familiar faces. My goal is to form a close-knit team and bring stability to the Commercial Department as I have done in previous roles. From there, we can explore new markets for our Hi tech and ToBRFV resistant tomatoes and strengthen existing ones, realizing our growth potential along the way.”

Strong potential
“I strongly believe that, within Hazera, we have the people, knowledge, ambition, and commitment to get the company to the place that I believe we can get to. In my opinion, Hazera has a big growth potential and I’m looking forward to taking on the challenge to achieve it with the team.”

Game changer
“The question I ask myself is: how do we make the difference?”. According to Tom, the answer is quality and reliability. “Hazera’s products are widely regarded to be innovative. But, to really understand why clients choose us, we must place them at the centre point; not just in the Commercial Department, but in all departments within Hazera. We can excel by listening carefully to our growers and translating their input in our innovations. By combining this with operational excellence, we can grow together and truly stand out from the competition.”