Tomatoes are the world's most consumed vegetable, present in 2 sectors: fresh and processed. The fresh tomato market is primarily regional due to weak conservation and fragility. Production is mainly in greenhouses with the main production countries being Spain Italy, Holland, France and Belgium. Production under glass greenhouses (originally a Dutch speciality) is now practised all over Europe and allows for an almost year-round production. A glass greenhouse requires (excluding specific heating systems) an average investment of €1 million/ha and 5 FTE's/ha most of the year.
Morocco is an important supplier for the European market and produces under plastic greenhouses (main export to France and reexported to Northern Europe as well as to Russia).
For the fresh sector harvest is done mainly by hand whilst processed tomatoes are mechanically harvested. In the processed sector the main producers are the USA, Italy and China.
Russia is the world's number 1 importer of fresh fruit and vegetables (8 million tons and $8 billion in 2012). Tomatoes are imported from Turkey and the EU (Holland, Belgium, Spain, Poland) and Morocco. At 800,000 tons, Russia is the second biggest tomato importer after the USA.
2014 weather conditions were far better than last year. Spanish production could suffer from the New Delhi virus which is present in Almeria. Yet the main worry for Spain is that consumers are limiting their spending on fresh produce (e.g. decrease in local consumption of fresh strawberries has led to more being exported at hugely slashed prices). Another threat is the Russian market being closed off.
France's tomato market is an exception as it is mainly sold in supermarkets (contrary to Spain and Italy) and is not self-sufficient. The relatively stable production is at 570,000 tons whilst national consumption reaches 800,000 tons. Imports represent 400,000 tons from Morocco, Spain, Belgium and Holland. Re-exports (150,000 tons) go on to Germany (35%), Belgium, Holland and Poland.
