Reader’s Digest April 2020

In April 2020, we published the following articles:

• In Australia, harvest is in progress and expected to finish around April 20, but it's 10% down and the processing industry could be running out of stock due to a higher demand.
• U.S. Processed Tomato Stocks as of 1 March 2020: inventory is down 8.1% from the prior year level.
• Italy has requested a Europe-wide extension of the compulsory place-of-origin labeling for all food products. In Italy the obligation has been extended until 31 December 2021.
• In Germany, the value of annual imports of tomato products has represented more than 500 million Euros since 2014 and continues to increase.
• In the North of Italy, the OI Pomodoro Nord confirmed that all commitments complied with the pre-contracts and with the targets.
• Italy seems to disagree with the Nutri-Score classification and proposes an alternative labeling system, which details percentages of energy, fats, sugars and salt.
• Mobilization of the tomato industry: press releases related to CoViD-19 from the European Commission, Cedenco, Kraft Heinz.
• Italian exports have seen an increase in revenue of almost 10%.
• Dossier on worldwide consumption of tomato products, 2018/2019 (part 1 & 2)
• In California, the tomato crop is being planted as originally forecasted, but it is difficult to gauge the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic at this stage.
• Kagome partners with NEC Corporation in order to launch AI-enabled agricultural management support services.
• Harvesting is nearly finished in some southern hemisphere countries: Argentina, Australia, Chile and Brazil.
• Latest update on ToBRFV: eradicated in France,  found in the Netherlands on Egyptian tomatoes and on seed lots from China, Isarael and Jordan, a testing validation protocol is being set up in Italy.
• In France, new codes of practice have been set up for tomato products by the CTCPA (French Industrial Technical Center for the Canned Food Industry)
• Nestlé is planning to close its plant in La Villa (Panama) in 2023 and to shift its operations to Natá.
• Paste Prices: USA, Spain, Portugal, Italy, China, Chile, as of 17 April 2020.
• Editorial from Martin Stilwell, TomatoNews SAS President.
• Comparison of monthly exports over the past 2 years for China, Italy, Spain, USA, Portugal, Chile, Turkey, Ukraine, Greece and Netherlands.
• A Belgian Agritech company, Ask Attis, developed a mobile application able to detect pests and diseases on food crops. The first one to be launched in June will be the tomato plant.
• Dossier on the tomato processing industry in Argentina: current situation, future prospects, production, surfaces, yields, trade balance.
• The Covid-19 pandemic had unexpected benefits: processed food is making a comeback and many food processors saw an increase in demand. In particular, tinned tomatoes are in high demand.
• A team of researchers from Wake Forrest University received a USD 3 million grant to develop more heat-tolerant tomatoes for future crops.
• California Masterplant, a Business Unit of The Morning Star Co. Group, adopted an integrated management software: winTutor® IRIS. This solution was developed by Selda Informatica, an Italian company leader in the horticultural sector.
• Dossier on the 2019 Season: global production in line with estimates.
• Italy is facing the threat of a drought, in the North as well as in the South.
• The Italian Casalasco del Pomodoro received a loan to strengthen its financial structure and to make investments on industrial and commercial levels, in particular to strengthen the Pomi and De Rica brands on the international markets.

You can find the individual articles in the NEWS list and/or search by keyword, date etc.