The Zeraim Gedera Company is now making available on commercial markets, four new varieties of enhanced flavor tomatoes with exceptionally high sugar content, which is why they have a very refined, attractive taste. The new varieties are the result of cooperation between the tomato breeding team at Zeraim Gedera and scientists from the Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research.
Dr. Moshe Bar, deputy CEO for R&D at Zeraim Gedera, who headed the joint breeding team together with Dr. Ari Shefer from the Volcani Institute, said that the new tomato varieties contain sugar concentrations 50% higher than the regular tomatoes on sale in most countries around the world and despite the high sugar concentration, these new varieties also have long shelf lives. According to Dr. Bar, the new varieties were developed over a number of years at a cost of some $2 million.
The fruit harvested from the new varieties will be marketed in different states within the USA and in Europe, where consumers demand quality and are willing to pay for it. Supermarket chains in these states used focus groups to taste different varieties and they concluded that the taste provided by the Zeraim Gedera varieties was the best of all.
The Company expects to return the development investment within three years.