The first commercial harvests of Purple Magic broccoli have started this October. It is the first broccoli variety developed by Sakata with fully purple florets and stem.
"Up until November the supply will be very limited, but from November onwards it will increase, according to the usual broccoli production calendar for the autumn/winter export campaign in Murcia," said Antonio Ibarra, head of development for brassicas of Sakata Seed Ibérica.
For now, there are three companies from Murcia that are going to launch the first campaign of this new variety: Grupo Lucas, Jimbofresh International and the cooperative Deilor, which already showcased this new variety from Sakata at the international fair Fruit Attraction, held in Madrid in early October.
"Fruit Attraction has been the perfect stage to introduce a novelty like this and boost its promotion. We have received very good feedback for a broccoli variety that is so different from the rest, even for people who do not belong to the broccoli sector. The thing is that almost everyone is already familiar with this vegetable, so Purple Magic is really striking," said Antonio Ibarra.
"The first outstanding aspect of this new variety is its bright purple color, but 'the real magic' hides behind that, since this color is due to its high anthocyanin content, unlike traditional broccoli. It has similar levels to those of strawberries and three times higher than those of pomegranates. It is a broccoli with domed, compact, very fine-grained and uniform florets," said Ibarra.
It should be noted that this variety is being launched at a difficult time for broccoli cultivation, as production costs have shot up by between 30 and 40% compared to other years, something that has caused the acreage devoted to this crop to fall.
"In this inflation scenario, the acreage for the production of most vegetable specialties has been reduced, as their yields per hectare are usually lower and this results in cost overruns. This, however, isn't the case of the Purple Magic, a variety whose productivity, handling and disease resistance are very similar to those of green broccoli, as it is also a short cycle crop and ensures economic profitability to the grower. In difficult times, a new opportunity has arisen for growers to diversify their crops," said Sakata's Brassica development manager.
The three producers who are currently marketing this variety have a strong presence in the domestic market, as well as internationally. "I believe that the Spanish wholesale markets can serve as base for the expansion of this product, since that is where we are seeing the most interest. Wholesale markets are great for this, given their high specialization. We are already seeing many supermarket chains asking about the possibility of being supplied the Purple Magic. This is a very good sign; it means that interest is already growing. In fact, right now there is more demand than supply," said Antonio Ibarra.
For many years, based on our experience with broccoli and our presence in the markets, it was clear to us that we needed further innovation with this crop since we launched the Bimi back in the day. We wanted to 'do magic' with broccoli, and then the Purple Magic was born. When it comes to broccoli, there are still surprises to come in the future, but this is a process that takes time."
