The life span of a tomato
The popularity of a specific tomato segment can be the deathblow. Back in the 80s, Dutch grower Seasun was among the first to work with the beef tomato. Earlier this year, the company announced its retirement in regard to the variety, citing a saturated market without distinctive features as among the reasons. This season, however, they returned to the tomatoes.
In recent years there has been continued demand for beef tomatoes with excellent quality - reason enough for the company to take them up again. Nico van Vliet of De Ruiter Seeds recognizes the cycle. As a breeder, De Ruiter Seeds is continuously looking at market demand. "If you introduce a variety in a new segment, you need to put in an effort. After about two years, you see if it works or not.”
It may be that consumers are not yet ready. The lycopene campaign was started fifteen years ago, but the health aspect of vegetables was not yet distinctive enough. "If there’s a positive response however, you might have a winner. If it appears that a segment is viable, growers and partners must be given the space to develop the market. If an introduction is rushed, interest may still dissipate quickly."
The popularity of a new segment can rise quickly, Van Vliet knows. "Cherry vine for example. The Cherry was on the market for a while, but interest seemed to dwindle. The vine variety seemed to live up to people’s expectation more, it just looked better. In the beginning the cherry vine still had limited availability. Eight years after the introduction of cherry vine tomato Juanita, it has become a standard segment.”
This development is also reflected in the market. Last year, Flandria introduced a segmentation of the specialities. In the segmentation, the range is divided into uniform segments. Acreage increased by 30 to 40% and an overly wide range of speciality tomatoes was the result. "Last year has seen a rapid increase. The question is what will happen now," says Van Vliet.