“Travel with us and travel with you: we start in Almería and finish in Castilla-La Mancha, passing through Seville and Murcia, and it performs well in every area.” This is how Mercedes Fernández Lozano, Sales Specialist at BASF | Nunhems, explains the nickname given to NUN 32408 WMW F1: the travelling watermelon.
The variety was one of the highlights at the latest edition of BASF | Nunhems’ Business Event For Experts (BEFE), held on 21 and 22 May in El Ejido (Almería). The event showcased the company’s latest watermelon innovations, aligned with current consumer trends towards more manageable sizes, high productivity and superior internal quality standards.
NUN 32408 WMW F1 delivers strongly on all three attributes. José Luis López, Senior Watermelon Sales Specialist at BASF, highlights its firm flesh, intense red colour and high Brix levels.
Externally, it is a striped variety with a darker background colour than others in its segment, providing a fresher appearance on the retail shelf.
Both yield and fruit size are highly uniform, facilitating harvesting and commercialisation. According to López, around 90% of the fruits fall within size categories 2 (7–10 kg), 3 (5–7 kg) and 4 (4.5–5.5 kg).
In addition, its rind thickness is optimised to minimise damage during transport and handling.
From an agronomic perspective, the plant is highly rustic, enabling it to adapt to different crop management systems and production areas, both under greenhouse conditions and in open-field cultivation. Its strong foliage coverage further enhances this versatility, particularly in outdoor production.
The travelling watermelon complements Bengala F1, BASF | Nunhems’ earliest variety, positioning itself within the medium-to-late transplant segment.
Its portfolio continues to grow
Juan Pedro Pérez Abellán, Regional Crop Lead Watermelon EMEA, presented the company’s watermelon portfolio, which is built around four pillars: production and quality, partnership, innovation and versatility through the Dual Purpose concept.
He highlighted Premium Universe, the company’s leading concept in mini watermelons with microseeds, designed to provide differentiation, flavour and added value at retail level. In this segment, López revealed that alongside Kalanda F1, Premium F1 and Kalimba F1 — the current stars of the Premium Universe — “we will be introducing new developments.”
The company also continues to focus on solutions for emerging market niches. Under its Dual Purpose concept, BASF | Nunhems showcased varieties suitable for both fresh consumption and minimally processed applications.
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Among them was Zenium F1, a watermelon that combines aesthetics, firmness and versatility. Together with Amazo F1, Bazman F1 and Harmonium F1, it forms part of a portfolio designed to meet “a growing demand for convenience solutions,” according to López.
Finally, among its most innovative proposals, BASF | Nunhems presented Takemi and two additional personal-sized watermelon varieties, as well as new mini watermelon concepts.
“This year, Takemi has generated significant interest from retailers,” commented Pérez Abellán.
BASF | Nunhems continues to expand its watermelon portfolio with new varieties across different typologies and formats, addressing key market demands related to quality, segmentation, production efficiency and differentiation at destination.
