A new super-sweet chocolate mini snacking variety of capsicum has hit the supermarket shelves after more than six years of development by a North Queensland seed researcher.
According to Bowen-based Arable Field Research director Levon Cookson, the chocolate-coloured capsicum is "super-sweet', and the final in a range of four varieties including red, yellow and orange, which will be marketed under the 'Little Sweet' brand, with one of each colour sold in a single container.
"From concept to product was six years and we have not finished yet; it could be another 18 months before the plant rights come in," he said.
"'Little Sweet Chocolate is a snacking, low-seed content variety.
"It's got a deep chocolatey appearance and while we use equipment to measure sugar content, when the kids and students trying them were going 'this is amazing' and getting excited, we felt very positive."
Mr Cookson said the variety came about when more than six years ago a local farmer approached him about growing a variety with some seed he had imported.
"The farmer asked if we could produce something from what he gave us," he said.
"We started producing seeds from that variety and we found it to be problematic, so we asked him if he minded us doing a breeding program to tidy it up, which was a sweet success.
"The farmer has been very helpful and encouraged us, which was great."
Mr Cookson said he felt Australia needed to be more self-sufficient when it came to seed sourcing and storage after the pandemic demonstrated how quickly global supply chains could be disrupted.
"As an agricultural country, it's crazy we import seeds," he said.
"So we are trying to support farmers and want to ensure they have a secure and consistent supply as they struggled during COVID.
"A lot of farmers are pretty keen to try to correct that and strengthen their local access."
He said assistance and mentoring also came from David Gillespie, a Brisbane-based former DPI plant breeder.
"David has been a good mentor to us and helping us out," Mr Cookson said.
With more than six years in what he called the "capsicum niche", Mr Cookson said seed prices reflected the quality of the variety farmers use.
"Some capsicum varieties are around 24 cents a seed while others can be $1.30 a seed," he said.
"When you are talking about hundreds of thousand of seeds you're talking about a lot of money."
He said his company sold "in the realm of one million to three million seeds annually" but declined to discuss price per seed.
Looking ahead, Mr Cookson said he and his wife Catherine, who is also an agronomist, were working on other projects they felt would have solid commercial applications.
'We are performing quite well, I'm happy with where we are and where we re heading," he said.
"At this stage we have eight other lines that will come through in the next couple of years.
"I've been in the research industry for 15 years and half the time I've spent on contract research and agronomy and our goal is to deliver reliable, locally adapted and produced seed to the Australian horticulture market."
