Campari, from trademark to consumer brand
Campari has made a name for itself with the Tasty Tom label. “We have worked hard to introduce a tomato that met people’s expectations,” says Chris Groot. “To get this far we had to monitor market demands for years. Eventually the Campari and the Aranca did the trick. The Campari in particular really took off. They are selling them in the US now. Shoppers put ‘Campari’ or ‘Tasty Tom’ on their grocery list instead of ‘tomatoes’. It went from a trademark to a consumers’ brand.”
But with the flood of new speciality varieties, aren’t breeders afraid of overexposure? “What you need to do is keep shifting your perspective,” says Chris. “There are many ways to distinguish yourself. So far we have been carving out a niche by focusing on taste. But what about health, for instance? The technology of genetics has given us access to all aspects of the product: like how to make it more healthy. We could market a cucumber that lowers your cholesterol. Just think of the possibilities!”