How seedless watermelons took over the grocery store

When was the last time you saw watermelons with seeds in your local grocery store? You might find some at a farmer’s market, but almost every supermarket will only have seedless fruit. Since the 1990s, seedless varieties have surged in popularity, and over 90% of watermelons shipped from farms are now the seedless type. Eater’s Amy McCarthy explores the reasons for this paradigm shift.

The first, and most obvious, reason is that seedless watermelons are easier to eat. You don’t have to fish out (or, depending on the circumstance, spit out) the seeds. When I was a kid, my cousins and I would have contests to see who could spit their watermelon seeds the farthest. That probably is not happening much today, because few people are bringing watermelons with seeds to the cookout.

Another reason for the dominance of seedless varieties is that they are smaller, as are family sizes. Getting the biggest watermelon used to be the goal, but a super-sized melon is not what people are looking for today. Seedless varieties are almost always smaller, so this was another reason for farmers to make the switch. In addition, seedless varieties last longer, because the seeds in watermelons produce ethylene gas, which makes the melon spoil faster.

Better breeding and pollination methods also contributed to farmers making the switch to seedless melons. While some people believe that watermelons with seeds are sweeter or taste better than seedless varieties, experts say that is not the case. The flesh of seedless varieties is often firmer, but you can find ones that are just as sweet and delicious as an old-fashioned watermelon.

A few small-scale farmers have returned to heirloom varieties to offer something different to consumers. If you haunt farmers markets, you might find unusual watermelons – perhaps even ones with yellow flesh. I am among those who think that seeded types taste better, but that might just be the nostalgia speaking. However, I will happily eat a seedless variety, and now I am back in business for melon balls because Jenny found me a hoop-style melon baller to replace my broken one! Bring on the melons, seeds or no.