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Planet Money · Friday, August 28, 2026

Rutgers University Develops New Tomato Variety

The podcast explores the trend of "Honey Crisp-ification" in the produce aisle, focusing on a new grape tomato called the Scarlet Sunrise developed at Rutgers University. The hosts aim to understand the market forces and consumer desires driving this trend.

personDan PashmanpersonKenny MalonepersonBrucepersonJohn Bon Jovi

The tape

3 quotes
You you can't put me ahead of Bruce, but I'll take tied with John Bon Jovi. That's fair.
Kenny Malone
We will discuss. Because Dan is here to help get to the bottom of this trend that he and I have been calling like the Honey Crispification of seemingly the entire produce aisle.
Kenny Malone
Plus, can two Rutgers farmers convince Dan Pashman to fall in love with a new and interesting looking little grape tomato?
Kenny Malone
Heard on Planet Money — “Branded fruit: How produce got “Honeycrisp-ified", published Friday, August 28, 2026. Heardvine summarizes and quotes with attribution and timestamps, and links to the original everywhere.
Transcribed via Gemini audio transcription · $0.05