Hey guys,

I am just doing some research on creating a hybrid fruit and vegetable, and i was wondering what your opinions would be on the challenges you would face when trying to brand a fruit or vegetable? As most of the fresh produce at the supermarket is not branded like other foods.

​All responses would be greatly appreciated thank you.

to ATP
From what I have observed here in Calgary, it is the grower who brands theirself.
I do not know whether they are growing hybrids or heirlooms.
But they will use their brand for tomatoes, cukes, etc.
In other words for everything they grow.

Concur: Branding sems to be done by distributors or growers independent of variety. Example Vidalia onions can be any of 2 dozen or so varieties. http://www.theguardian.com/sus... http://www.moag.gov.il/agri/En...

Branding can be very lucrative, just look at the grape industry. There are plenty of brand name fruits out and about now. Most are contract grown by farmers who can not share seed or any other plant material with anyone or face being sued. I hybridize fruits, but the odds of getting something better than the parent stock is something like 1 in 1000 but it's fun and exciting to create new things. The first step on branding your item would be patenting it. From there you'll need brix readings, tast tests, mass propagation, farmers, lawyers, and marketing people to get your product in stores.

Thanks for the answers guys, the initial idea was to combine a cucumber and watermelon, so that the outside skin could also be a nutritional benefit. The idea was meant to entice children to healthier eating. what do you guy think about that? and would it be hard to brand?

Welcome to ATP, Mahario.

>> the initial idea was to combine a cucumber and watermelon

Wow, major league! Those are not just different species, they are from different genuses (genera)! Cucumis and Citrullus.

Maybe those are prone to inter-breeding and I just don't know it. It sounds like a big challenge to me.

>> meant to entice children to healthier eating

A noble goal, but an uphill struggle. My thought was "bred those cukes for a disgustingly high sugar content", but then you said HEALTHIER eating.

I suspect that the only way to get kids to eat what they SHOULD, instead of what rots their teeth, is the method that I think the mainland Chinese are using to get their people to ever EAT all the GMOs they are inventing and stockpiling.

At some point, there will be a famine or food prices will go through the roof due to drought and erratically changing climate. At that point, the Chinese government has a very persuasive argument":

"Eat this or starve".

That would do it.

Cucumbers and watermelon actually taste a lot alike to me... maybe a cuke could be developed with reddish flesh and a kind of watermelon shape

Kids need to be taught and modelled good eating habits by parents and family.
Poor nutrition is the result of poor planning of meals.

Rick your post reminded me of the book called One Second After.
It is a novel about what would happen,--- if Osama had carried his threat of a super bomb.

I don't think that Bin Laden was ever as big a threat as plain old power plant smoke stacks emitting nine BILLION metric tons more CO2 than the oceans and soils can absorb.

Given enough time and neglect, those will damage civilization more than all fanatic zealots combined, whether they live in the Middle East or inside the Beltway.

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

What we really need is a tomato without skin... that would definitely speed up my salsa-making efforts!!

How about a determinate tomato where the skins all dissolve right after they reach ideal ripeness?
Put some pots under the plants to catch them when they dissolve, and instant paste!

Genetic engineers, are you listening? It would be a commercial product because they could be shipped in big tank cars after "dropping".

Or drop them on a slope, with plastic film mulch. "Plop, flow downhill, harvest."

Yes! the genetic engineers are going in entirely the wrong direction and need to listen to us!