Popits: The one-bite cucumber designed for modern life

How Popits™ turns a behavioural shift into a category opportunity

Something has changed in how people eat. Not dramatically, not overnight - but structurally and irreversibly. Modern life demands everything at once: work, childcare, fitness, healthy eating, social commitments.

The 24-hour day hasn't expanded, but expectations have – leaving very little time for traditional meals. The three-meal day is no longer the default. Eating has become more fluid, scattered across the spaces between activities - at desks, on commutes, in schoolyards, between meetings. Snacking is the result.

The numbers confirm it. According to Innova Market Insights, 56% of global consumers snack every single day, and 86% do so at least once a week. In the United States, 1 in 6 adults already replaced meals with snacks in 2024, according to Euromonitor International. In Europe, 54% of consumers now purchase ready-to-eat items at least once a month, reports McKinsey. And in the Netherlands, snack cucumber sales grew by more than 25% in 2024, according to YouGov.

When eating occasions multiply, the question consumers face isn't "what do I want?" but "what can I reach for right now?". Fresh produce is the obvious healthy choice – yet it requires one extra step that packaged snacks do not. In a day where every decision competes for time, that extra step becomes the barrier. The opportunity is not to convince consumers to eat fresh. They already want to. The opportunity is to remove what stands between intention and action.

This is precisely the space Popits was developed to fill. At just 4-5 cm long, Popits is the smallest, sweetest, and crunchiest snacking cucumber on the market. With more sweetness than other mini cucumbers and a superior crunch, it's the snack that fits every moment – whether on the go, in kids' lunchboxes, or even in a cocktail.

The Story Behind Popits™

Recognising this clearly defined market gap, Harmoniz and Mastronardi Produce developed Popits™ from the genetics up to deliver a specific eating experience aligned with modern snacking occasions. Sweetness and crunch aren't accidental. A collaboration that has continued to grow through an expanding network of expert, passionate, like-minded partners in Europe, including Glinwell and Agrosol, alongside retail partners such as Tesco.

At Fruit Logistica 2026 in Berlin, Popits was selected as a finalist for the Innovation Award – one of the industry's most closely watched recognition programmes. The shortlisting reflected not just the product itself, but what it represents: breeding decisions shaped by how people actually live.

The Opportunity

The window to shape this category, rather than follow it, remains open. Popits' commercial profile supports the full value chain: +20% yield through regenerative fruiting, no twice-daily harvesting requirement like other mini cucumbers on the market, and 25% less waste across production and retail. For retailers, this delivers a differentiated product story and added value across the chain. For growers, a commercially viable crop aligned with demonstrable consumer demand.

The Bigger Picture

Popits is an example of what happens when a clearly identified behavioural shift drives breeding decisions. When listening to consumers becomes part of the development process. When the question asked at the start is not "what can we develop?" but "what does someone reaching for a snack actually need?" The answer, in this case, is simple: healthier, delicious produce with zero friction.