THE TOMATO
It is very difficult to imagine a world without tomatoes. Tomatoes (Lycopersicon Esculentum) appear in many dishes of our traditional national cuisine. It is a member of the Solanaceae family, native to South America, and particularly to the Andes, a land belt that goes from the North of Chile to the South of Ecuador.
The Spanish Conquistadores firstly discovered the tomato in the first half of the XVI century, when after landing in America, they bumped into this wonderful red fruit. In spite of the fact that in the New World the tomato was already part of native Aztecs’ daily diet, the vegetable, nowadays symbol of the Mediterranean cuisine, was carried back to Europe only for ornamental purposes, as it was thought that its fruits were inedible.
The production and processing of tomatoes, the import and export of tomatoes, the trade of tomatoes and all the other situations connected to the processing of tomatoes, such as retailers and wholesalers of tomatoes, importers of tomatoes and also exporters of tomatoes in our database and on our sites (zipmec.eu, zipmec.com and mecortofrutticolo.eu), were still far away from reaching present dimensions. In fact, at the beginning of 1600, after almost one century since his discovering, the tomato was not yet recognized as an edible vegetable, because it was considered poisonous like other plants of the Solanaceae family, such as the mandrake and the deadly nightshade. Italy was the only exception: already in the middle of the fifteenth century, tomatoes were consumed raw, fried in oil and salt, or also in soups.
While in France tomatoes were consumed by the royal court, in the South of Italy it became the main food of the poor population and of workers, announcing an important sector for producers of tomatoes and for farms connected to the processing of tomatoes.
Only at the end of the eighteenth century the production of tomatoes had a great impulse. An intensive and systematic production of tomatoes, pulled by the demand, allowed a remarkable growth in the number of farms, such as retailers of tomatoes, exporters and importers of tomatoes, but also of farms that were involved in the processing and in the wholesaling of tomatoes.
The first technique of tomatoes’ processing goes back to the early years of the eighteenth century, while the preservation of tomatoes in glass pots previously boiled was discovered in 1762.
The processing of tomatoes for the consumption spread all over the most temperate European regions, such as the South of France, Spain, the South of Italy and Sicily, whence tomatoes reached the Northern markets, allowing the growth of farms there involved in exportations, trading and retailing of tomatoes.
Starting from the mid-twentieth century, thanks to improvements of tomatoes’ processing techniques and to the beginning of the farming and production of tomatoes in open field, Italian exporters of tomatoes reached top levels worldwide, while trade, retailing and import/export of tomatoes increasingly grew all over the world. In fact, Italy is still today third in the world ranking of farms for the production ,the import/export and the processing of tomatoes.
Visit our website www.zipmec.eu and look up for the list of farms of tomatoes on the most wide ad up to date database for fruits and vegetables.
What are we actually talking about?

• The plant and the production of TOMATOES
• Varieties
• Organic tomatoes
• Producers, farms, import/export of TOMATOES

The plant and the production of TOMATOES
Tomato plants are vining and pubescent and their stems abundantly branch near the ground. Hundreds of different tomato varieties are produced and eaten worldwide: indeterminate varieties have plants that continue to grow indefinitely, while the plants of determinate varieties stop growing after forming a certain number of fruits and leaves. The inflorescences, usually clustered, take place between nodes and the flowers bloom from the first leaves.
The plant is usually grown for its fruit that is a big, red and ripe berry, available in different sizes and shapes, depending on its variety, on its species or on its processing. Recently, in fact, there have been several tests for the production of hybrid tomatoes, that come from the combination of two different varieties of tomatoes.
The tomato plant grows usually in temperate-hot climates, tomato seeds need a temperature of 12-13 °C to germinate and a temperature of 22-25 °C to develop and to yield.
Any kind of soil can be appropriate for growing tomatoes, even though it prefers medium soil mix with a good drainage.
The tomato plant needs much water, therefore rescue irrigations are necessary during the most hot seasons. Tomatoes also need to be earthed up when they are 20-25 cm tall.
Furthermore, tomatoes are subjected to different physiopathologies (sunscald, fruits’ cracking) that can be controlled only through appropriate agronomic techniques and suitable varietal choices.
Tomatoes have little food value, while their vitamin value is very high: the typical red colour of this fruit suggests the presence of lycopene and of beta-carotene, a precursor of A vitamin. Tomatoes are also rich in C vitamin, citric and malic acid.
You can obtain further information on tomatoes by addressing to certified tomatoes’ farms, tomatoes’ producers and also to retailers, wholesalers, etc. that you can find on our website www.zipmec.eu, the biggest and up to date world database of fruit and vegetable farms, wholesalers, importers and exporters of tomatoes and other fruits or vegetables.

See also:

• TOMATOES
• Varieties
• Organic tomatoes
• Producers, farms, import/export of TOMATOES

Varieties
It is simple to get an impression of the infinite number of tomato varieties even only by seeing the counters in supermarkets and the wholesalers of tomatoes: there are the table consumption varieties, with globe-round fruits, smooth or ribbed, that can range in size and are classified as indeterminate varieties with progressive maturation.
In Italy 300 tomato varieties are recorded, while worldwide tomato varieties for the production and the processing are more than 1,700: however, only 60 of the latter are used in the fruit and vegetable trade.
Usually there are different typologies of tomatoes and in each typology there are several tomato varieties or species.
The most common varieties are the beefsteak tomato (Arawak species), tomatoes for salads (Bubu, Camone, Carson species), the Marmande tomato (Marinda species), mini-elongate or “mini Perino” tomato (Dunne species), the elongated Perino tomato (Lancelot, Oskar and Parsifal species), the red cluster tomato (Ikram species), the mini cocktail tomato (Iskra, Tyty species), the Cherry tomato (Genio, Maria Vittoria species), the Vesuvian tomato (Piccadilly, Pixel and Snack species), the Marmande tomato, the Money Marker tomato, the Early Pack tomato and lastly some hybrids such as the Montecarlo and the Fandango.
Tomato varieties such as Camone, Marzanino, Naram and Brired are also popular and valued. They are international species of tomatoes that, thanks to the import and export of tomatoes among countries, have favourably met customers' tastes.
The tomatoes of those varieties used for the production of peeled tomatoes have an elongated, pear-like shape and among them the most valued are the San Marzano or the Marzanino (an hybrid of the mini San Marzano species). However, they are not suitable for the cultivation in open field because they have to be staked to support the fruit.
The MARZANINO is an hybrid species originating from the mini San Marzano species: it is a tomato with a high Lycopene content, whose fruits have a typical taste and flavour. Its shape is similar to that of the classic “San Marzano” tomato, but scaled-down, narrowed near the top at ¾ of its length, with a light green back and it is 6-8 cm long. The Marzanino tomato is similar to the San Marzano only for its shape, while it has increasingly improved both the colour and the taste, much more similar to a “cherry” tomato or to a “datterino” tomato. The rachis is fleshy and stays fresh for long time.
The Marzanino, perfect for table consumption or for industrial processing to produce tomato sauces and concentrates, is nowadays well known and widespread, thanks to producers, farms and wholesalers involved in tomatoes’ production and retailing sector, who deal with its import/export.
The NARAM tomato, on the contrary, is an "oval-shaped” medium early cycle variety, suitable for the cultivation in greenhouses. The fruit is big-sized, bearing on average 110 g., with a beautiful colour, firstly green but that becomes completely red when it is ripe. Both the fruits and the rachis have a great shelf life; the plant is strong, with a great productive and qualitative potential. This tomato variety is particularly suitable for table consumption and you can find it in most fruit and vegetable farms that produce tomatoes, but are provided also by wholesalers (see the list of farms that produce tomatoes).
The BRIRED tomato is an hybrid of the cluster typology, particularly suitable for the cultivation in greenhouses. It has a very early cycle, has a great productive potential and can easily adapt to different soils. The fruits bear on average 130-135 g. and have an astounding colour and brightness.
The clusters are regular with a typical herringbone pattern. These tomatoes are suitable both for table consumption and for industrial processing and long term retailing.
There are also other tomato varieties, such as those for the production of tomato concentrates; these varieties usually have the shape of a stretched out square ad are determinate. The most valued varieties are those that can be harvested mechanically, as they have a concurrent maturation and the berries can resist to shocks.
Instead, tomatoes for table consumption are usually harvested when they are not completely ripe, because they are enjoyed in salads and recipes for which they are better fresh; on the other hand, tomatoes grown for industrial processing are harvested when completely ripe, because they are more juicy, fleshy and tasty and therefore better for tomatoes puree and concentrates.
However, the CAMONE variety is probably the most known: it was introduced in the mid Eighties in the South of Sardinia, becoming a product known and valued worldwide, because of its resistance to several physiopathologies that cause severe damage to tomato cultivations in greenhouses. The successful combination of taste, resistance and adaptability to different climates permitted to extend its cultivation also to different areas, making a great commercial success out of this product, that nowadays is imported and exported in any country by farms, wholesalers and salespersons.
The Camone tomato is actually a tomato with a unique and strong personality. It is Italian at 100% and producers, traders, retailers and consumers have the certainty of a final product with all the characteristics that give the tomato the right to be defined as safe, Italian ad exclusive.
The Camone tomato is a little tomato for salads, round, that can bear about 60-80 g. Its colour is special because of the deep green on its top that can be more or less wide depending on the maturation degree of the fruit, that usually is preferred when it is not completely ripe.
The average production of tomatoes can vary, but usually it is about 700-800 q/ha for tomatoes used for table consumption and about 500-600 q/ha for tomatoes that are going to be processed.
The main products deriving by the processing are peeled tomatoes, fruits without their peel and canned, concentrates that have a percentage of dried deposit between the 12-15%, tomato juices and sweet and sour sauces.
The residual of the tomatoes’ processing, like peels and seeds are instead used to prepare fodder for animals after the extraction of the oil from the seeds.
If talking about tomatoes we usually think of a product that is typically Italian, also the author of the name from which the current denomination comes is Italian at 100%: it was the father of Italian botany, Andrea Mattioli (1501-1577), who introduced in his work Medici Senensis Commentarii the Latin denomination mala aurea, that afterwards was translated literally “pomo doro”, or golden apple.
The qualities of tomatoes are precious and infinite: you might consider that, already since 1500 tomatoes were considered to have aphrodisiac properties and that, for this reason, it was used in potions, who gave origin to the expressions " love apple, Liebesapfel, pomme d'amour or pomme d'or” in England, Germany and France.
Nowadays, with the exception of Italy, the old denominations have been replaced by words that originate from the Aztec tòmatl , term that in general indicated plants with round fruits, juicy flesh and lots of seeds.

See also:

• TOMATOES
• The plant and the production of TOMATOES
• Organic tomatoes
• Producers, farms, import/export of TOMATOES

Organic tomatoes
As all the other most sold crops, also the tomato is nowadays valued as an organic cultivation, in virtue of the existing phytosanitary products that help to protect the plants; in fact, consumers have become increasingly aware of organic farming and therefore of organic tomatoes, because it is a form of agriculture that aims at prevention and acts especially with the purpose to improve soil fertility and therefore to control, reduce or eliminate cultivation problems.
Soil reclamation, to reduce water stagnation, and rotations, to hold back weeds and pests and to increase the content of organic substances, are essential agronomic practices for a more correct and easier production of organic tomatoes.
The number of retailers of organic tomatoes, suppliers of organic tomatoes and wholesalers who deal with organic tomatoes, eliminating or minimizing the employment of chemical substances to protect tomatoes from diseases is increasingly growing: nowadays the trade of organic tomatoes is a rising sector.
The modern consumer, in fact considers more important the organic farming and thus supermarket chains lay down conditions to suppliers and distributors of tomatoes as to the employment of certain substances, as confirmed by GLOBALGAP directives.
If you want to grow organic tomatoes, it is really important to choose the right variety, because you will not have or barely have chemical “help”: varieties that do not need much fertilization, that are more resistant to diseases and pests and that develop fast and extensively are, of course, better than others.
The varieties that are usually used for the production of organic tomatoes, the trade of organic tomatoes, the processing of organic tomatoes and the distribution of organic tomatoes are the Magnum 955, Guadalete, Brigade, Snob, Totem and Red Fighter, of which we will report the morphological characteristics:

Magnum 955 is a good quality tomato variety with a good production level; it is a late tomato variety with a medium resistance to diseases and pests. It is suitable for any employment, however it is produced especially for the retailing and the consumption (production of organic tomatoes also through specialised wholesalers).
Guadalete is instead a tomato variety liable to rot, but has a good productivity level as to fruits. It is a suitable variety for the industrial processing of the tomato.
Brigade is a variety with a good productivity level, but grows at alternate periods; the fruit quality is excellent and it is a medium/early variety. It is also suitable for table consumption.
Snob, Totem and Red Fighter are quite good qualities, however they are liable to rot and are less resistant to diseases compared with the other varieties that we have already described.

See also:

• TOMATOES
• The plant and the production of TOMATOES
• Varieties
• Producers, farms, import/export of TOMATOES

Producers, farms, import/export of TOMATOES
Nowadays there are many farms and agricultural entrepreneurs who work in the sector of the processing of tomatoes, in the fruit and vegetable trade or in the sector of the vegetables’ sale, among which stands out the production of tomatoes. These farms usually have a EU certification for the production of tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables.
Thanks to our yearbooks FruitNEWSLETTER and MEC Ortofrutticolo (and their digital versions) you can easily contact fruit and vegetable farms or obtain information about them.

In particular, you can find a list of farms who:

• produce tomatoes (certified farms for tomatoes, farms that produce specific and unique varieties of tomatoes, fruit and vegetable farms in general, farms who produce organic tomatoes)
• deal with the trade of tomatoes, who are retailers of tomatoes, wholesalers of tomatoes, importers of tomatoes, exporters of tomatoes and operators who deal with the wholesaling of tomatoes

Furthermore, as to this specific cultivation that is very important in the world of fruit and vegetable farms, we give you the opportunity to access zipmec.eu, the biggest search engine for fruit and vegetable farms all over the world, where you can obtain information on:

• farms who produce tomatoes
• certified farms for the production of tomatoes
• producers of unique tomato varieties
• farms who produce organic tomatoes
• farms that deal with the trade of tomatoes
• retailers of tomatoes
• wholesalers of tomatoes
• importers of tomatoes
• exporters of tomatoes
• operators who deal with the wholesaling of tomatoes

Zipmec.eu is easily accessible and always up-to-date.
It is a list of farms for the production of tomatoes, the retailing of tomatoes, the sale of tomatoes, the import/export of tomatoes, the wholesaling of tomatoes, and in general of any farm active on the fruit and vegetable market that is involved in tomatoes’ production.
Apart from farms involved in the sector of tomatoes, of course you can find also lists and information about any farm of the world fruit and vegetable market.
See also:

• TOMATOES
• The plant and the production of TOMATOES
• Varieties
• Organic tomatoes

The MEC Ortofrutticolo describes a lot of tomato varieties: for each variety of tomatoes it shows the agronomic and morphologic characteristics and a picture of the product.
In the catalogue you will find the product characteristics, such as shape, skin and flesh colour.
For each tomato variety the MEC Ortofrutticolo shows the list of farms of tomatoes, such as producers of tomatoes, salespersons of tomatoes, wholesalers of tomatoes, importers of tomatoes and exporters of tomatoes, specifying for each farm the headquarter address and any website to contact personally the producer and retailer of tomatoes.