Two new varieties of Israeli tomatoes will be listed in major supermarkets next year, according to the country’s largest fresh produce exporter Agrexco.
The Tiger and Pink tomatoes have already been trialled successfully in their country of origin.
This marks a turnaround for the tomato industry in Israel after a challenging season, according to Steve Hopkins, sales manager at Agrexco. He said: “This season has been difficult at times for us because we experienced some inclement conditions, which affected the quality of some varieties. But this is the one thing that we have no control of.
“Another difficulty was that the general deflation of prices on the high street meant lower returns for growers, so it is fair to say that it has been a tough market.”
But exports of Israeli baby plum tomatoes to the UK have increased by 200 per cent since last year. UK demand for cherry tomatoes on-the-vine has risen by 50 per cent.
Sales of cherry on-the-vine have shown a 25 per cent increase on last year as a result of growers focusing on specialist varieties.
“The Baby Maya variety has proved a firm favourite with UK consumer,” Hopkins added. “We are definitely seeing an increase in sales on-the-vine over the traditional cherry tomatoes where production is down 20 per cent after poor returns last year.
“Consumers are becoming more aware of the improved taste and quality of vine tomatoes and are prepared to pay for the premium product that we offer.”
