31 May 2016
Dialogue about new tomato opportunities
“Last year at the TCT, we presented the first small yellow and orange tomatoes in various shapes. Our idea behind these cheerful colours is that each colour has its own recognisable taste profile. We hope this will enable us to offer our partners additional marketing opportunities. After all, the coloured snack tomatoes remain tremendously popular. While the ‘fun’ element is important in the snack segment, the flavour has to be good too, and we’re now making very good progress at Rijk Zwaan in that respect. Thanks to our newcomer Ternetto we can offer a productive and tasty all-round red snack tomato.”
Different-coloured cucumbers?
“Snack versions are in high demand in cucumbers too. It’s very difficult to develop flavour variations within cucumbers but there are nevertheless clear differences between the varieties: juicy and fresh or firmer and greener, for example. And we’re also seeing more colour variation in the cucumber category, such as mint green, white and bicolour. As the market leader in cucumbers we are keen to play an important role in this innovative process.”
"When developing new varieties our breeders take all key traits into consideration: long shelf life, attractive appearance and a good flavour all year round. That’s why we conduct a lot of taste research and we regularly ask consumer panels to rate our vegetables. Our flagship snack vegetable products are grouped together under the ‘Sensational Snacks’ name. Creating product lines and labels like that helps us to highlight the traits and applications of our vegetables more clearly.”
“We’re also thinking about special applications for the foodservice sector, for example. Chefs are keen to work with flavoursome, aromatic yet firm tomatoes. Ultimately consumers will benefit from the results because they will be able to enjoy delicious dishes prepared using the right kind of tomato. But it should also be easy for shoppers in supermarkets to identify which tomato is suitable for which preparation method – that information should always be included on the product packaging. That’s why we talk to visitors to the TCT about in-store opportunities too. We ask our partners for their views; we’re keen to enter into dialogue with them, so we wholeheartedly encourage people to visit our Trial Center Tomato. They should contact their Rijk Zwaan crop advisor or chain manager Maarten van der Leeden. Alternatively they can arrange an appointment by sending an e-mail to Rijk Zwaan in the Netherlands at rijkzwaannederland@rijkzwaan.nl”
