Thanks to their ‘sexy’ image, tomatoes command more media attention than the average fresh product. Images of ripe red ‘love apples’, or pommes d’amour, as our French friends prefer, are frequently used in these health-conscious, produce-loving times.
Yet despite the old adage that any publicity is good publicity, having pictures of tomatoes attached to stories about the GM debate, or other such provocations, can be rather devastating for an association working hard to help its members secure a place in the market for their innocent products, says the Tomato Grower’s Association (TGA) technical officer, Gerry Hayman.
“Tomatoes are a good looking product,” says Hayman. “They represent salads much more than cucumbers or lettuce, for good or bad. They are the point at which all the important issues come together - imports, food miles, genetic modification, pesticide residues and artificial ripening. We spend a lot of time trying to put all these misconceptions right.”
The TGA has even had to explain its decision to hold an annual British Tomato Week in May to some of the most celebrated TV chefs, who insist the British tomato season runs in the autumn rather than from March to October. By next week, May 16-22, the date chosen for this year’s event, the UK season will be in full swing and the TGA is hoping the various activities in place, along with its ongoing promotions, will further the success achieved during last year’s inaugural edition in raising the profile of British tomatoes.
The TGA was originally formed to offer technical advice to its members rather than act as a promotional body. However, while the technical team of eight voluntary members is still just as committed to offering this service, the TGA’s Julie Woolley has taken on a more public relations-orientated role, to assist the individual marketing arms in their publicity campaigns.
The TGA has a long list of reasons to shout about British tomatoes and rather than concentrating on any one issue as in previous years, it will be communicating all of their positive attributes from low pesticide levels to the nutritional benefits of lycopene-rich UK products. But with no direct contact with the general public, getting this message across is not that simple. As such the association relies heavily on the promotions undertaken by the major multiples, who enjoy daily contact and influence upon the entire nation. Last year, some of the retailers offered a fairly muted level of support, owing to the short turnaround period from the inception of the idea until its fruition. However, this time around, all of the main supermarkets are on board, with a wide range of activities planned across the week.
On Monday, May 16, the events will kick off at Asda House in Leeds, where the TGA will be exhibiting its promotional stand and in-house chefs will be cooking up a variety of dishes involving British tomatoes. As well as a discount promotion on its British fare, Asda has also outlined two competitions for the event. The first is aimed at 8-11 year olds, in association with the TGA’s educational website, The Tomato Zone. Promotional material has been distributed to local schools from 277 Asda stores nationwide and pupils have been invited to name Asda’s new variety of sweet plum tomato. The winner will receive £50 of Asda vouchers, along with £500 of sports equipment for his or her school.
During the week itself Asda customers will also be encouraged to enter a competition for the best British-tomato themed recipe. The entries will be judged by a panel of Asda chefs and the winner will receive a cash prize as well as the opportunity to see their work in print in the September edition of the retailer’s in-store magazine. In addition growers in Yorkshire and Lancashire will be invited to interact with consumers in their local stores.
Shoppers in Jersey will also have this opportunity, with tastings and visits in Chequers in Rue de Pres, and the Co-op in St Helier, where customers will be able to experience British tomatoes freshly blended at its Bloody Mary stall, accompanied by various crudites for dipping.
Peter Ireland, salad buyer at Marks & Spencer, says tomatoes is an area where customers are particularly passionate about supporting British varieties and with a team visiting the chain’s top 100 stores to monitor the layout of the category, he believes this will continue. “It is very important to us and our customers and we believe we will have a high proportion of British sales,” he says.
Tesco has been putting particular weight behind its ‘Finest British Tomatoes-on-the-Vine’ pack. After careful consideration, the premium tomato used was selected from hundreds of trial varieties grown by The Wight Salads Group, says Wight Salads commercial manager for Tesco, Simon Conway. Unlike the other multiples, who offer a classic large vine tomato and a smaller cocktail vine tomato, the Tesco Finest British vine tomato, called Temptation, sits between these two classes.
“It would have been easy to grow a traditional large vine variety for Tesco to sell under the British banner, however Wight Salads and Tesco were keen to deliver a key USP for British tomatoes in Tesco stores,” says Conway. “Tesco recognises there is a clear niche for quality British tomatoes in Tesco stores and Wight Salads is pleased to have been working with Tesco, developing this line over the last two years.”
Last year Wight Salads grew a trial area of Temptation sold exclusively for Tesco in its unique triangle packaging format. This area has been extended significantly for 2005, and Conway says sales have doubled, with room for further growth as store distribution increases.
Nationwide nursery open days have also been scheduled for the week, following the ongoing success of these activities. Consumers will be given the opportunity to understand the techniques involved in producing the supremely tasty British tomatoes, by talking to those involved on a daily basis. Stubbins Marketing Ltd will be opening its glasshouses to local schools and the community at its sites in Rhymney Valley in Wales on May 16 and Cambridgeshire on May 19. “It will be an opportunity to show the public our two state-of-the-art production sites for vine and loose tomatoes,” says Mike Corcoran, Stubbins commercial manager. Stanley Payn, the owner of Fauvic Nurseries will be offering a similar opportunity to citizens in Jersey, to round off the week on May 22.
In conjunction with one of its category suppliers, Greenery UK, Somerfield will be holding a ‘Meet the Grower Day’ on Thursday and Friday of the event week in front of its store in Standish, Lancashire. Chef Noel Goulding wil be cooking up tomato-themed dishes and one Somerfield shopper will get the chance to have the well-known chef cook up some of the store’s finest ingredients in their own home. Greenery UK manager and ex-TGA chairman, Peter Lansdale, will also be on hand to answer all tomato-related enquiries.
Chris Wall, managing director of Eric Wall Limited, opened his glasshouses to the public last month and believes the experience was rewarding for all. “We have just built new greenhouses and it is important to show people what we are doing and the advancements in the industry,” says Wall. “The staff really enjoyed it and some of them have been with us for more than 20 years so they have a lot of knowledge as well as skills.”
Wall has a 21 acre site with a further 3.85 acres allocated for the pending duplication of the existing computerised glasshouse completed at the end of last year. He champions the work done by the TGA on behalf of fellow growers who recognise the importance of promoting their product but lack the skills and knowledge to do it by themselves.
During British Tomato Week, the TGA will be providing promotional balloons for a balloon race from nurseries holding open days, with prizes available for those who return the balloons to the TGA headquarters in Barnham, West Sussex.
Following the success of her appointment last year, on Wednesday, May 18, food consultant Polly Tyrer will be taking over the basement kitchen at John Lewis’ flagship store on London’s Oxford Street. To demonstrate the versatility of the fruit, Tyrer will be cooking up a variety of recipes, including a new rendition of a mushroom risotto incorporating pesto plum tomatoes. Many of her recipes are featured in the Simply Tomatoes book she produced for the TGA last year.
“It is a great project because it is such a fabulous product,” says Tyrer. “I like to work with natural and fresh foods and I am actively working to roll out all these issues. It is very important that we buy locally and buy British in season and this is a product we should be promoting.” Tyrer has more than 20 years of experience in constructing recipes and has published six books, including the widely acclaimed Leith’s Vegetarian Bible. She is actively involved in various healthy eating community projects for adults and children.
Driven by the same desire to encourage local shopping, Christine Fisher of the Greengrocer’s campaign has agreed to distribute posters and flyers to her independent greengrocer members. The campaign was set up a year ago to provide independent retailers with a forum for the exchange of ideas for surviving against the onslaught of the supermarkets. “It is important to give local product a distinctiveness from imported produce so people can think about local sourcing,” she says.
Colin Swift, operations executive at Blue Apple Catering has been similarly swept up this year in the opportunity to go tomato crazy. “In all of our restaurants - which will be about 16 or 17 - we will be having a tomato-themed menu, with a prize draw where the winner will get a basket of tomatoes and accompaniments like buffalo mozzarella and olive oil,” says Swift. “Each restaurant will have a different menu each day. It might be a sandwich or a main meal or even a dessert. I love trying to be a bit different and we will basically be doing anything possible involving tomatoes aside from actually chucking them around the restaurants.”
Having themed events is a particular thrill for Swift, although he is keen not to follow the paths chosen by others with examples such as Dutch week. “I wanted to do something a bit more relevant and ‘foodie’ which our customers would like.”
In a bid to get more media coverage, the TGA has also signed up for a listing in X-trax magazine. This publication is the ‘bible’ of facts and events listings circulated among local radio stations to provide DJs with interesting information about each date of the year. The TGA is hoping that having British Tomato week listed on the entry for May 16 will encourage them to mention it along with one or two facts, such as ‘the Elizabethans originally cultivated tomatoes as ornamental plants’, and ‘tomatoes provide lots of health promoting nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and the red stuff in ripe tomatoes, lycopene’.
The health benefits are key to the TGA’s campaign. Medical experts have recently suggested another positive effect of tomatoes concerning the prevention of heart disease and the TGA is working to establish a link with The British Heart Foundation to raise awareness of this fact in the future.
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