Tomato industry alarmed by boom in Chinese production

Fresh Tomato

Vegetables

Italy

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 13, 2024

Tridge summary

Italy's industrial tomato sector, worth 4.4 billion euros, is grappling with challenges such as water scarcity, the need for product protection, and competition from China. The Suez Canal crisis has further complicated trade flows and costs. China, which has surpassed California in tomato production, is projected to become the world's top producer by 2024. The Italian sector is worried about the import of Chinese tomato paste that fails to meet European safety standards. The industry is advocating for checks on raw material origins and the implementation of uniform environmental and social sustainability indicators. Meanwhile, several processing firms in Northern Italy are making significant acquisitions to boost their global competitiveness.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Water crisis and protection of the made in Italy product, through the fight against unfair competition: the future of the industrial tomato (4.4 billion euro turnover, of which 2.5 billion comes from exports) focuses on two macro-challenges. In the background, the strong critical issues caused by the crisis in the Suez Canal - which slowed down trade flows, impacting costs and undermining the stability of foreign trade - and on the horizon the variable China, overtaking California in the world ranking of producers. The global estimates from the World Processing Tomato Council updated in February confirm Italy in third place in the world ranking of producers - after the USA and China - with 5.6 million tonnes processed (+4%) and first in the EU. «In 2023 – warns Alessandro Squeri, CEO of Steriltom, a leading company in Europe in the production of tomato pulp for the Food Service and Industrial sectors – China has increased its production disproportionately, reaching 8 million ...

Source: Il sole 24 ore