The compact seedless variety impressed judges with its deep red flesh, high sweetness levels and extended shelf-life, while Hazera reports that its seedless watermelon breeding has driven significant retail sales growth in the UK market
Exotica, a seedless mini watermelon variety developed by Hazera, its making waves after winning of this year’s prestigious Fresh Market Award 2025, presented during the Fresh Market B2B event in Poland.
The 2025 event gathered hundreds of producers, buyers, and innovators for a day of business matchmaking, product presentations, and industry networking.
Exotica was chosen by professionals from the fresh produce industry for its quality, taste, and market potential.
With its deep red, crispy flesh, high sweetness (Brix of 10.4–11.4), lack of seeds, and attractive striped crimson-type skin, Exotica is designed for today’s demanding consumers, Hazera explained.
Its compact size (1.8–2.7kg) and long shelf-life (over 20 days) make it ideal for both retail and logistics, the company noted.
Seedless varieties from Hazera breeding have delivered a 182 per cent increase in retail sales in the UK market, according to Hazera, and a 38.5 per cent reduction in complaints, ”proving its commercial value across the supply chain”.
“I’m grateful to the whole Hazera Fresh Chain team because they are behind this great success,” said Michał Taraska, Hazera’s global value chain lead, who runs the project connecting breeders, growers, and retailers.
The Fresh Market Award is decided by live voting from participants at the Fresh Market event.
This year’s silver and bronze awards went to Sweetloom F1 from Yuksel and the Sinclair T55 compostable label respectively.
