AGENDA

08:30 – 09:30  REGISTRATION AND NETWORKING

09:30 – 09:35  WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
Overview of the event and an introduction to the 2025 congress theme: preparing for the tomato market of 2030.

• Tom Joyce, Fruitnet
• Maura Maxwell, Fruitnet

09:35 – 09:50  TALK: WHERE NEXT FOR TOMATOES?
Key insights into the future of the tomato industry, with a special focus on major category trends, supply dynamics, technological innovations and changing consumer demands in Europe.

09:50 – 10:30  PANEL DISCUSSION: WHAT WILL EUROPE’S TOMATO MARKET LOOK LIKE IN 2030?
Where Europe sources its tomatoes from is always evolving, but issues including climate change, logistical crises and wars are giving rise to rapid changes. We examine the expected shifts over the coming five years, asking what they mean for European production, as well as for producers in North Africa, the Mediterranean and Central Asia.

• David Del Pino, Freshtrategy
• Andriy Yarmak, EastFruit

10:30 – 11:15  NETWORKING BREAK  

11:15 – 12:00  TALKS AND DISCUSSION: RESPONDING TO THE SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE
Climate change is making it increasingly difficult to grow tomatoes in southern Europe. How will this impact sourcing in the future? And what opportunities does it create for other supply countries?

12:00 – 13:00  TALKS AND DISCUSSION: CAN WE RELY ON A TECH FIX?
Increasing automation appears a certainty in the tomato category, whether in enhanced greenhouse production, sorting and packing, harvesting or transportation. We look at how technologies can solve the problem of labour availability, both now and in 2030, while also asking how workers’ rights and living wages can be protected in the sector. And as homegrown tomato production becomes increasingly popular, how might new technologies boost this trend?

13:00 – 14:30  LUNCH AND NETWORKING 

14:30 – 15:45  TALKS AND DISCUSSION: WHAT WILL TOMORROW’S CONSUMERS WANT?
What will the tomato of 2030 look like in terms of taste, nutrition, and sustainability? How will consumer demand for healthy and sustainably grown produce shape the market? How will the efforts of seed companies to breed higher resistance and yield evolve? And what role will consumer brands play in the market of the future?

15:45 – 16:30  NETWORKING BREAK

16:30 – 17:30  DISCUSSIONS: FRUITCAST WITH TOP EXPERTS FROM ACROSS THE TOMATO SUPPLY CHAIN
The focus of these interviews will be on the main talking points raised during the congress, as well as the key challenges of the future: how to grow consumption and meet the needs of tomorrow’s consumers, how to build resilience to weather extremes and pests and diseases, and how to respond to rising labour costs and shortages.

17:30 – 18:30  NETWORKING RECEPTION