The Canary Islands have been exporting tomatoes to the UK for more than 100 years. The trade was so important that a wharf was named after the islands at West India Quay on the Thames. In the 21st century, Canary Wharf has become synonymous instead with the regeneration of London’s Docklands and the move of some of the City’s big names eastwards.
It is fitting perhaps that it was the British that introduced tomato cultivation to the islands with the arrival of Stonor’s Exhibition - a heritage variety still in non-commercial production today.
The historic links remain strong and the UK continues to take by far the lion’s share of tomato exports from the islands.
The trade direct into London may be long defunct, but commercial ties between the British and Canary Isles can be considered to be almost as vibrant as ever. Now it is Southampton that receives tomato shipments from the clutch of seven islands off the north-west coast of Africa.
The balmy climate and winds on three of the islands in this picturesque location: Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura are what make them ideal for production of tomatoes. Cultivation is very respectful of the environment and thanks to the warmth and good light levels, artificial heating and lighting systems are unnecessary. Canary Islanders believe this is what gives their fruit its distinctive flavour.
The islanders grow their produce as an export crop and produce an average of 221,000 tonnes of which 97,000t are destined for the UK - some 44 per cent - arriving directly into Southampton. The remaining 124,000t are sent to Rotterdam for onward distribution to other European countries, predominantly Germany.
However volumes have been declining fairly steadily since the record export year of 1995-96 when 370,000t were despatched. The past 10 years have seen many changes in the sector, not least competition with a rapidly expanding tourism industry putting pressure on land values and usage. There has also been the issue of competition not just with Morocco as its quotas for export into European Union member states have gradually crept up, but also with fellow Spaniards growing in the southern Spanish areas of Murcia and increasing their plantings in Almería.
Climatic factors and disease problems - tomato yellow leaf curl (TYLC) and white fly - have also taken their toll over the past seasons. But equally tough to bear have been dwindling prices due to pressures in destination markets - most notably the UK, which has seen considerable consolidation in the retail sector.
Despite the decline in sendings, tomato production is hugely important to the economies of the island provinces because of the large labour force it employs: 8,500 people grow tomatoes for the 30 different firms that are members of exporters’ organisation Fedex on Gran Canaria, for example. Between them they account for the direct and indirect employment of a further 25,000 people.
Growers are organised mainly in co-operatives or agricultural companies (SATs) and 95 per cent of production is marketed through Producer Organisations.
There has been much consolidation in the industry over the past decade and whereas there are 28 members of Fedex in 2005, it had 140 members in 1977. The picture is similar across the islands as the industry responds to changes further along the supply chain and on the whole, those companies that remain have incorporated the smaller firms’ activities.
Promotion in the UK of tomatoes from the Canary Islands resumed in 2000 after a nine-year break thanks to some £200,000 in funding from the national government, the Canary Islands regional government and the growers themselves through levies paid to Fedex and its counterpart on Tenerife, Aceto. It is highly valued by both organisations as an essential promotional presence for them on their most important market.
The islanders have realised the importance of boosting their presence and reminding trade and consumers of how natural their product is as well as how superb it tastes.
They also make enormous efforts to achieve top quality production at the same time maintaining a diligent respect for their environment by reducing pesticides and using integrated crop management and production systems. The result is that they are able to offer to the marketplace tomatoes with all the guarantees of flavour, quality and food safety afforded by certification of compliance with UNE155001 administered by AENOR.
The UK campaigns have had specific objectives to: drive sales and market share of Canary Islands tomatoes; to maximise consumer awareness at point of sale with on-pack branding; to secure trade media coverage and target consumer media. This has been achieved using give-away travel and recipe leaflets, mini-recipe pads, competitions to win a family holiday, and 2-for-1 holiday vouchers. Over the years, almost all the UK’s major multiples have been involved: Asda, CWS, Iceland, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose. Uptake of promotional packs has increased for example: more than 1.7 million promotional packs in one season up from 685,000 the previous year. Related promotions have also been successful linking with money-off vouchers for branded olive oil and even a £7 token against the purchase of The Moro cookbook.
The Canary Islands have been known traditionally for round tomatoes but have adapted to demands in the UK market particularly for plum, on-the-vine, cherry and beef tomatoes as well as increasingly hi-tech protected structures.
Growers now believe that with competition more intense than ever from sources in northern Europe at the beginning and end of the season and mainland Spain and Morocco during the season, the only way they can compete is in offering the best possible quality. This is quite some challenge given their greater distance from the marketplace but one to which the islanders have risen with post-harvest technology advances that have allowed even on-the-vine fruit to be exported by sea successfully.
These technological advances start right back in the field where production under nets meant that Canary Islands tomatoes did not suffer any damage from threatening locust swarms this past season, for example.
As the market seeks new types and varieties, all sources have to innovate. Researchers and growers have been working on varieties resistant to the TYLC virus as well as the use of bumblebees native to the islands in pollination. Projects such as these have received a boost from the islands’ regional government in recent years in the form of support and services for technological innovation. Other R&D interests include experimenting with the use of hydroponics, which could be a valuable solution to problems with nitrate vulnerable zones in the La Aldea area.
The main varieties that have been gaining in popularity both on the islands and in destination markets such as the UK are Boludo and Dorothy.
Their presence on the islands has come about largely in response to the devastating TYLC virus at the start of the decade. They have now both largely replaced the more traditional Daniela variety, which has proved susceptible to TYLC. Boludo and Dorothy both have similar firmness and keeping qualities to Daniela but also the added advantage of disease resistance. Colour is similar too and the only disadvantage is that Dorothy and Boludo both tend to be slightly smaller fruiting types.
Yamile has also performed well in trials and is imported into the UK. The success of these three from three different seedhouses in resisting disease and meeting market specifications for colour, size, quality and flavour have given the industry a new lease of life.
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