Firm to Expand Market for Its Hybrid Tomato

You say tomato, Seminis Vegetable Seeds says genetic hybrid.

The Saticoy-based seed producer in 1995 formed an alliance with Zeneca Plant Science of London to create a genetically modified tomato that would maintain its natural pectin level, reducing loss and spoilage from harvest to market.

Tomato sauces, pastes and other processed products made from this new variety became available in supermarkets in the United Kingdom in 1996. Since then, more than 1.6 million cans have been sold.

The success of the modified tomato, the first commercial Seminis product enhanced through biotechnology, has encouraged company officials to look for further marketing opportunities around the world.

“We have about 60% of the market share in the United Kingdom, and we are currently in the process of seeking regulatory approval throughout the European Union,” said Mark Stowers, vice president of worldwide marketing for Seminis. “In the United States and Europe, the product is being evaluated--we’re test marketing, working with growers, working with processors. We’d like to see something [for consumers] by next summer.”

To create the new tomato, researchers at Zeneca and the University of Nottingham in England decreased the amount of an enzyme responsible for breaking down a tomato’s natural pectin. Pectin holds together the cell walls of the vegetable. Without it, the tomato deteriorates more quickly.

The tomatoes, grown and processed in Mexico and the United States, have USDA approval.

Stowers attributes the overseas success of the new varieties, sold under the names Vegadura and Vegaspeso, to several factors, including cost savings to the consumer and the grower.

“Retaining the pectin basically means less waste from the processed product--from the farmer to the processor it requires less energy use,” he said. “We are actually creating more value for the farmer, and we have been able to translate that reduction to the consumer.”

Stowers said the current international interest in the product should remain strong.

“There are three trends affecting our industry,” he said. “There is greater demand for food due to increased population, there’s demand by consumers to reduce use of agricultural chemicals to produce crops, and there is a demand for a better, nutritious diet. We are applying this technology to all of these areas.”

Seminis markets its seeds through its Asgrow, Petoseed, Royal Sluis, Bruinsma and Genecorp brands. It has reported annual sales of more than $360 million.