Since implementation of the tomato for every taste, all year round scheme, in October 1999, Schuitema/C1000 stores have increased turnover on tomatoes by 50 per cent and volumes by 20 per cent.

The Greenery's Margreet van Harn, who worked on the category management project, said: 'Winning the prize is nice but this wasn't the primary goal.

'We began the project at the beginning of 1999. Our client had a few problems in tomatoes – not enough market share and problems with the quality and continuity of product, especially in the winter season when it was imported. Continuity is an issue all year as product comes from different sources.' The Greenery created a project group with the aim of sourcing tomatoes to fit the tastes of every C1000 consumer for the whole year. The group established a comprehensive list of tomatoes – round, on-the-vine, beef, cherry, plum, cherry on-the-vine, and 'gourmet' – with the aim of offering seamless, quality supplies of each.

'We wanted to establish a complete range of tomatoes to offer to consumers irrespective of source,' said van Harn, 'as well as getting consumers to spend more of their 'tomato guilder' in C1000 stores.' The Dutch Central Bureau for Retailing, which advised the jury for the award, said the outcome of the project was a good example of what can be achieved with co-operation between retailers, marketing bodies and growers.

The Greenery is now working the retailer on similar projects for capsicum, aubergines, courgettes and chilli peppers. Several German retailers are interested in the consumer-focused approach and UK retailers are being invited to work with the Dutch supplier on similar schemes.

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