"NL: "Both retail and grower very satisfied"

Lans BV with glasshouses in the Westland and Zeeland, The Netherlands, is one of the larger tomato growers in the Netherlands. Lans grow in the glasshouses in Maasland the De Ruiter Proudesse (then still DRW7646) for the third consecutive year. This 100 grs. tomato is grown by Lans all year round. There is increasing interest in a tomato, which is different in colour, taste, uniformity and year round availability. These remarks have been heard from the market for a while and were confirmed during various meetings of both representatives of Plus supermarkets, Terra Nature International, Fresq and Lans B.V. On the basis of these discussions De Ruiter did extensive research on durability and taste in the Tomato Experience Centre in 's-Gravenzande.

Conclusion: the variety Proudesse was the answer to the question of 100 grs.

tomatoes on the vine. Consequently De Ruiter introduced this variety on the market immediately.

Vincent van de Lans, director and grower at Lans BV: "The past two years the variety has proved itself. Because of the good results we planted more and more Proudesse. In the meantime more than 12 HA in the glasshouses of Lans all year round.

Route to retail

The combination of the dark red colour inside and outside, the good taste, the durability and the resistance to real mildew have been the reasons for Proudesse being available all year round at PLUS supermarkets in the Netherlands and in Belgium at Delhaize. In addition Proudesse also goes more often to Germany and England.

The colour and with that the very nice presentation on the shelf of the supermarkets appear to be a good incentive to impulse buying. Therefore the Proudesse is positioned amongst the luxurious brand Appetit by supermarket chain PLUS. Leo van der Lans has been involved with the cultivation and market introduction of Proudesse right from the start. He tells: "From the very first customer desire was central when introducing Proudesse. By talking to retailers their wishes became clear and we could adjust our cultivation on that basis. With that we broke through a spiral we had been in up to then: the supply of varieties of our choice and not that of the customer.'

Embraced

There are quite a number of advantages because Proudesse is also the choice of retailers. Leo: 'The advantage is that the variety now also has been accepted by them and be viewed as their own tomato. The best part is that Proudesse can be grown under light or without light, resulting in a Proudesse, which with a Dutch origin can be supplied all year round.'

Satisfied consumers

The demand for tomatoes with an appealing red colour both inside and outside, combined with a good taste and mildew resistance, will increase in the future. The varieties to be introduced by De Ruiter in future will satisfy this even more. 'With only one aim: satisfied consumers.''

Source: Livingnews, Monsanto