At this edition, UNICA is the only Spanish company to be nominated for the prestigious Fruit Logistica Innovation Awards 2024. “It is the first time that we have opted for the ‘Product’ category. It means a motivation towards innovation, which might be lacking in Spain,” Andrea Álvarez, Business Development Manager at UNICA, explains. With Zucchiolo, they are ‘breaking the ground’ to motivate other Spanish companies to continue developing new products to make the sector become more attractive.
“Consumers constantly seek to be seduced by the supermarket shelves. They want new flavours, colours… in short, cooking that is fun and new ways of preparing the products.” Zucchiolo meets all these aspects. This vegetable, new in Europe, is the ‘daughter’ of the South American courgette. Its name comes from the mixture of the Italian terms zucchino (courgette) and cetriolo (cucumber) and it is a compendium of the two: Zucchiolo has the firm, fine skin of a cucumber, the smooth, pleasant flavour of a courgette and its appearance reminds us of a small pumpkin.
Social nature
UNICA is the only company marketing 100% of the product. They opted for this product due to its innovative, versatile nature, but it also has a very important social component. “50% of the revenue generated by the sale of Zucchiolo is devoted to the social purposes of the Fundación Cellbitec, centred on two current challenges in the health field: research into the fight against bowel and pancreatic cancer, and degenerative diseases.”
Commercial journey
On a sales level, the sales forecasts for Zucchiolo are very promising. This product “has exceeded everyone’s expectations. It has been received enthusiastically thanks to its groundbreaking nature and its incredible versatility,” UNICA’s Business Development Manager affirms.
At present, Zucchiolo is sold in Switzerland, France, Finland and Spain, and the demand is growing. In addition, Andrea Álvarez points out that they are perceiving an increase in interest by farmers, because “they are seeing that it is a product that is working well both agronomically and commercially.”
