With fuel costs escalating and the British weather increasingly capricious, 2008 is expected to be a challenging period for the UK tomato sector. Producers may not be able to control these factors, but they are taking control in other areas. New varieties are coming to the forefront, and growers are busy responding to consumer demands in the marketplace.
There has been a significant increase in cherry on-the-vine varieties such as Piccolo in the past couple of years, says Gerry Hayman of the British Tomato Growers’ Association (TGA). “An important UK variety, baby plum Santa, has virtually disappeared this year because of seed-health problems, although similar type varieties are being grown in its place,” he explains.
Jersey’s tomato season kicked off in mid-February with the first pickings of Angel, a cocktail on-the-vine variety. “The quality is excellent, and we are very happy with it,” says William Church, director of Jersey Produce Marketing Organisation (JPMO).
This season, JPMO is growing cherry on-the-vine tomatoes for export for the first time. “For the last two seasons, there has been a shortage of this variety, and we want to get into the market,” explains Church.
In addition to cherry and cocktail on the vine, JPMO produces a range of other tomatoes, and is increasing its beef tomato crop by 10 per cent this season. “Beef tomatoes are a difficult crop to produce, and Jersey has found a niche in the market which it serves very well, where others have tried and failed,” Church claims. “The crop offers a decent margin, but supermarkets are picky about the sizes they take. When beef tomatoes grow, first pickings are usually big, but then sizes decrease and you can end up with loads of outgrades if you don’t get it right.”
Although JPMO is increasing its beef tomato volumes, it has reduced the area of loose round tomatoes, but overall volumes are similar to last season.
Stubbins Marketing Ltd is looking forward to the new UK tomato season, and is raring to go with its speciality, vine and salad tomatoes. The family-run business grows tomatoes on two sites - its award-winning Rhymney Valley nursery in Wales grows speciality and vine tomatoes, and its Cambridgeshire nursery produces round and vine tomatoes.
Richard Lewis, who has recently been appointed to the board of the TGA and is general manager of the Stubbins Rhymney Valley nursery, is excited at the prospect of what he hopes will be another successful season for the team.
“Healthy-eating trends and changing consumer habits mean more customers are looking to buy fresh, locally grown, British produce,” he says. “British consumers have always been enthusiastic and passionate about locally grown British produce, and no more so than today.”
Stubbins has put its considerable weight behind Piccolo baby cherry tomatoes, and will be increasing production of this variety by 50 per cent this season. This variety won a gold award at the True Taste of Wales Awards in November 2007.
“The Piccolo tomatoes grown at our Rhymney Valley nursery get all the special care and attention they need to ensure they meet their sugar and flavour potential,” Lewis says. “Being recognised by the True Taste awards really does motivate and reward our nursery team for all its hard work and commitment when caring for the crop, which has been specially selected for its sensationally sweet, juicy flavour and fine texture.”
With the backing of True Taste, Stubbins now plans to increase consumer awareness of Welsh horticultural expertise.
It is no secret that growers have faced challenges over the past few seasons, especially as production costs continue to rise.
“Fuel costs have gone up 20 per cent since the crops were planted back in November, and this is putting untold pressure on the sector,” Church says. “There is undoubtedly a crisis.”
In Jersey, the situation will be compounded in April when labour costs are due to rise a further 7.5 per cent. “Jersey is a beautiful island and a great place to grow tomatoes, but its biggest problem is that there are no natural oil and gas supplies, so we need to import,” Church says. “The cost of importing into here is higher than the rest of the UK, and our distribution costs are also much bigger.
“The overall picture is fairly gloomy,” he continues. “I am certain that some growers, and not necessarily just the smaller ones, will exit the market.”
However, the TGA says that despite the recent coverage of higher fuel costs, there was a dip in energy costs in 2007 compared to 2006. “Those companies able to tap into ‘waste’ energy or those working with combined heat and power (CHP) installations have a big advantage, and also a small or even negative carbon footprint,” Hayman says.
In conventional heating systems, thermal screens, temperature integration programmes and other energy efficiency measures designed to achieve optimum yields will help the sector, as will alternative energy sources such as CHP.
Weather may no longer be the huge consideration it once was concerning production. But it does still have a large role to play when it comes to consumer demand.
Indeed, sources blame inclement weather for last season’s turn of events, which Hayman splits into three parts. Although it got off to a very good start, with good light, excellent quality and strong demand, the situation turned in the middle of the season when poor weather and demand pushed down prices. “It was painful to see some excellent British fruit being dumped, and yet we were still importing considerable quantities,” Hayman tells FPJ.
Church agrees that, although the 2007 season got off to a good start, with “stupendous growing conditions”, heavy rainfall throughout the UK summer dampened demand for all salad items. “If we get another 2007, there will be bloodshed,” he warns.
JPMO supplies 80 per cent of its tomato volumes to Sainsbury’s, and says the retailer is “great at promoting British produce”. However, unless retailers begin to pay more for tomatoes in the face of a rising cost base, Church believes that there will be fewer British tomatoes grown in 2009.
But like other UK producers, Church is trying to be optimistic and is hoping for a good summer with high sunshine levels. “These conditions will lead to good demand, and ensure the viability of the industry,” he predicts.
Although the sector remains cautiously optimistic about the season, price deflation and achieving good returns compared with other imported products on the market could be issues in 2008, warns Hayman.
Nevertheless, producers are hoping that greater investment by the sector and consumer support for UK-grown produce will lead to gains. The TGA says it has enjoyed “a flurry of enquiries” from buyers wanting to source British tomatoes this year.
The TGA, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary on July 12 last year at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, aims to build on this support with British Tomato Week, which this year will run from May 19-25.
“We have lots of events planned, and will be busy with tastings and promotions in UK retail stores around the country, radio and TV appearances, as well as school visits and other visits to production sites,” Hayman says.
There will also be a complete revision of the Miracle Fruit Report (a compendium of scientific information about the health benefits of tomatoes), and the TGA has high hopes of holding a number of activities at the Houses of Parliament, including tastings, displays and supplying its restaurants with British tomatoes to use in recipes throughout the week.
May to July will provide ample opportunities for Stubbins to promote and educate the public about its tomato varieties. The producer will be holding open days at its tomato nurseries during British Tomato Week, and will be exhibiting on the TGA stand at the BBC Good Food Show Summer, which is held at Birmingham NEC and runs from June 11-15.
From July 21-24, Stubbins will be exhibiting at the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells. The firm is also a strong supporter of the government’s 5 A DAY campaign, and runs educational school visits to its nurseries to help teach youngsters the importance of fresh, locally grown produce and the key benefits of healthy eating. It will continue to work with the main seed houses to trial and develop new tomato varieties, as part of its ongoing product development process.
CLIMATE CHANGE - GOOD OR BAD FOR TOMATOES?
Climate change can only have a positive effect on the UK tomato industry in the future, says Gerry Hayman of the British Tomato Growers’ Association (TGA). “If more extreme weather events are predicted, UK glasshouse production will offer real advantages in security of supply, compared with southern European or North African imports,” he argues. “An increase in average temperatures would suit us nicely compared with those further south, and we can also use water very efficiently in comparison.”
However, demand could be affected, speculates Theo de Graaf, commercial manager of The Greenery UK. “Summer weather might influence UK tomato consumption,” he says.
UK “STEADY BUT CHALLENGING”
The UK tomato market is a “steady but challenging” one, says Theo de Graaf, commercial manager of The Greenery UK. The strength of the pound, consumer demand for British grown food and debates surrounding food miles and carbon footprint are all factors facing importers.
However, de Graaf says the UK market represents a good return on investment, and while conditions might not be very favourable for exporters at the moment, there has been growth in the last few years.
“Suppliers must realise that the UK tomato market is one of the most, if not the most, developed in Europe, but there is still some growth potential,” he says, adding that the foodservice sector offers the best opportunity.
The carbon footprint issue needs to be clarified, however. According to de Graaf, The Greenery’s growers in Europe have the most energy-efficient production methods, and have been leaders in energy consumption developments. “Recent evolutions like the closed greenhouse make Dutch tomato production extremely carbon and energy efficient,” he says.
In the medium term, one challenge for The Greenery lies in further developing the top segment of the tomato category. “We’ll have to find new varieties to succeed the current and successful Amoroso variety,” de Graaf says. Focusing on the health benefits of tomatoes and producing high-lycopene varieties is also a priority.
The Dutch tomato season got off to a slightly earlier start this year, but de Graaf says most producers will not be increasing volumes this season. “We have had plenty of light, and quality is excellent,” he adds.
According to de Graaf, Dutch growers are “not too concerned” about rising electricity prices. “A higher electricity price can even turn out to be beneficial for our growers, as most of them have combined heat-power installations,” he says. “This allows them to provide the national grid with residual electricity.”
However, increasing natural gas prices could influence production costs. In order to balance rising costs, de Graaf argues that possible solutions may lie in intensified branding efforts and increased collaboration in the production chain.
ACCOMMODATING NEW SOLUTIONS FOR TOMATOES
Premier Packaging claims that it can accommodate all tomato varieties and offer packaging solutions for category managers, importers, producers and distributors.
Premier Packaging has a wide range of packaging at its disposal, including punnets and lids, clam shells and trays for loose product, and distributes all of the ranges manufactured by Veripack Embalajes in Spain, Dynaplast in France and Italy’s Nespak Imballaggi.
“We can offer packaging in various materials, including PET, RPET and EPS, as well as fibre that protects tomatoes and facilitates movement from the moment fruit is harvested, to the time it is delivered to the consumer,” says a company spokesman.
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