There’s a moment every cherry lover recognizes: you reach into a bag, find what you were hoping for, bite — firm, juicy and sweet — until the pit appears.
That small inconvenience has always been part of the cherry consumption experience. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Sun World International, the company aims to change it permanently.
In collaboration with the agricultural biotechnology company Pairwise, Sun World is working on the development of the world’s first seedless cherry. It’s the kind of innovation that seems deceptively simple—until you consider that no one in the history of commercial cherry production has ever succeeded in doing it.
It also marks an important milestone for a company that, for five decades, has connected people, science and markets, helping to redefine what consumers expect from fresh fruit today.
“It’s not just about a product, but about what that product makes possible,” said Bernardo Calvo, CEO of Sun World International. “When you remove friction, you unlock new consumption opportunities.”
The seedless cherry stems from a question that Sun World has placed at the center of its innovation philosophy for fifty years: what will consumers love?
“We don’t start from what is easiest to grow. We start from what consumers will love,” Calvo explained. “From there, we work backwards along the entire value chain to deliver that experience consistently and at scale.”
This question has already transformed the fresh fruit category. Sun World pioneered commercially marketed seedless watermelon, easy-peel mandarins and seedless lemons: all examples of removing barriers between high-quality fruit and the consumer. Flavor, texture and convenience are not secondary—they point the way forward.
A seedless cherry follows the same logic. As a ready-to-eat snack, a safer option for children’s snacks or a more practical ingredient in foodservice, it opens the category to new consumption occasions that were previously unexplored.
Sun World’s table grape portfolio offers a preview of what is possible. Years of investment in the consumption experience have reshaped consumer behavior, building multimillion-dollar brands such as AUTUMNCRISP®, which are sought after by name, drive repeat purchases and support premium pricing.
Cherries are at a similar threshold, and the effects of successful innovation extend far beyond the consumer. When demand grows, producers benefit from more stable opportunities and greater value.
“Innovation has to work for everyone along the value chain,” Calvo stated. “If it only solves one part of the system, it’s not sustainable.”
While Pairwise contributes precision breeding science, Sun World brings 50 years of genetics expertise, a global network of growers and the commercial infrastructure needed to take innovation from the lab to the market. Together, they represent exactly the type of collaboration Sun World was built for.
“We see innovation as a continuous process,” Calvo added. “When the right people, the right partners and a clear vision of what consumers want align, it becomes possible to move the entire category forward.”
That moment — when you reach into the bag, take a bite and get everything you expected, with nothing in the way — is closer than anyone imagined.
For years, Sun World has built its reputation on the belief that the best innovations happen when the right people come together.
With a global network of growers, an ever-expanding portfolio and next-generation innovations, the company continues to focus on delivering products that connect people around the world.
Source text and image: www.portalfruticola.com
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