From Field to Factory: Global Production Updates and Innovations Driving the Tomato Processing Industry

The FREE 2026 Tomato News Conference will take place on Wednesday 28 October 2026 from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm within the Cibus Tec exhibition.

Interpretation into Italian will be available.

Program: 

Innovations Driving the Tomato Processing Industry

Moderator: Luca Sandei, SSICA

• Agronomic Revolution
  Massimo Zubelli, Fyeld / Guaresi (GOLD SPONSOR)

• Closing the Detection Gap: Using Microwave Technology to Detect Plastics, Rubber, Wood and Other Challenging Foreign Bodies in Tomato Processing
  Andreas Lood, Food Radar (GOLD SPONSOR)

Foreign body contamination remains a significant challenge for the tomato processing industry, particularly when dealing with low-density materials such as plastics, rubber, wood, and organic contaminants that can be difficult to detect using conventional inspection technologies.This presentation introduces Food Radar Systems’ innovative microwave-based detection technology and explains how it enables the identification of foreign bodies in pumpable food products. Through real-world examples from tomato processing applications, including diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and tomato sauces, Andreas Lood will demonstrate how this technology can be integrated into existing production lines to improve food safety, reduce contamination risks, and strengthen quality control. The presentation will highlight practical experiences and the opportunities that new detection technologies offer to the global tomato processing industry.

• From Rheology to ROI: How Smart In-Line Sensors Are Transforming the Tomato Processing Industry
  Johan Wiklund, Incipientus (GOLD SPONSOR)

Incipientus presents a non-invasive, touch-free ultrasound system that continuously visualise flow, measures multipoint viscosity and rheology directly in industrial pipelines. Unlike slow, operator-dependent Bostwick sampling, the technology provides real-time data for digital twins and AI-driven process control, enabling ketchup and other complex-fluid manufacturers to optimize ingredient dosing, reduce waste and energy use, improve consistency, detect anomalies, and prevent equipment failures. The solution has demonstrated correlation with legacy measurements, completed a complete factory roll-out of more than 24 systems, and is applicable across food production and industries handling opaque, non-Newtonian liquids.

• Beyond Zero-Steam: Elettra Redefines Flexibility in Tomato Evaporation
  Francesco Rossi, Rossi Ingegneria Alimentare (GOLD SPONSOR)

• When every kWh counts – How Tomato Processors Can Reduce Costs and Increase Resilience
  Mario Gozzi, MGfoodtech Engineering

• From Computational Fluid Dynamics to Predictive Control: Towards Digital Twins in Industrial Tomato Evaporation
  Federico Solari, University of Parma

This presentation explores how high-fidelity multiphysics simulations can be combined with reduced-order models, surrogate models, and lumped-parameter system models to develop simulation-derived virtual sensors and hybrid Digital Twins. The approach is discussed in the context of industrial tomato evaporation, highlighting its potential to improve process observability and support real-time monitoring, predictive control, and process optimisation.

Global Tomato Processing in 2026

Moderator: Nick Kastle, WPTC president

• Roundtable with AMITOM & WPTC members

The 2026 processing season is now ending in most countries and the latest WPTC release currently estimates the global production in 2026 at 39.1 million tonnes, a reduction of 1.2 million tonnes compared with 2025’s final volume and of 1.5 million tonnes compared with the initial 2026 forecast. Nick Kastle and the panel will discuss how the season went in the major processing countries, notably following climatic challenges, and the likely effects of these results on the markets and the outlook for 2027.