Reader’s Digest: April 2025

In April 2025, we published the following articles:

• Francois-Xavier Branthôme’s career @ Tomato News: 25 years as Editor.
• Italian researchers developed a functional food, Lycoprozen, to combat Chronic Degenerative Diseases.
• Chilean paste exports were up in 2024, mainly to Central and South America, with the exception of Japan, now the leading customer.
• The French Food Safety Agency (ANSES) warns the agricultural industry about a new viral disease, the Tomato Fruit Blotch Virus (ToFBV), that was detected in a few places in France last year.
• Tomato Paste Prices, April 2025: USA, Spain, Portugal, Italy, China, Chile.
• Results of the Tomato SAUCE project, conducted by OI Pomodoro Nord Italia, showed positive growth on Italian exports, in spite of a challenging crop.
• The Italian Strategic Fund (FSI) invests 200 million euros in Casalasco, with an aim to propel its international expansion.
• The Italian business aggregator Tramite Group invests 100 million dollars to establish a large-scale tomato processing operation in Kazakhstan.
• US Inventories on March 1, 2025 (comment).
• Global Exports of Tomato Paste, updated April 9, 2025.
• Chinese researchers published a study revealing how tomato plants combat heat stress, via their shoot apical meristems.
• McKinsey and EuroCommerce published a report on the State of Grocery Retail Europe sector in 2025 and beyond.
• This year, CFT celebrates 80 years of innovation and success in the food and beverage processing and packaging industry.
• In Italy, a price agreement was reached for the Central Southern Basin after months of negotiation.
• Syngenta Portugal held its Industrial Tomato Conference, with 150 stakeholders, in order to tackle pressing issues and showcase innovative solutions.
• Heinz launched new 100% natural tomato sauces in Chile, designed to enhance pasta and pizza dishes.
• While the European Commission seems to have abandoned the enforcement of the Nutri-score labelling system, some major food retailers reaffirmed their support of the system.
• The Macfrut Academy launched an innovative digital learning platform dedicated to the fruit and vegetable sector.
• Italian Food S.p.A. and the Petti brand will celebrate the 100^th anniversary during TuttoFood 2025 with the launch of a new passata.
• Researchers from Penn State discovered that increased soil salinity can help reduce damage from tomato pests.
• Current water situation in Italy, Spain, Portugal and California.
• Dossier: Global Trade of Canned Tomatoes (Part 1 & 2)
• Prices of Canned Tomatoes, April 2025: Italy, Spain, USA, Greece, Portugal.
• Kagome Australia and Phenix en Provence were both present in the In-cosmetics Global fair to showcase their initiatives that use tomato byproducts in cosmetic formulations.
• In California, CTGA reached a price agreement with all tomato processors for the 2025 season.
• In Italy, the AgriTomActive project, directed by SSICA and in collaboration with La Torrente S.r.l., addresses the valorization of agricultural wastes of unripe green tomatoes to extract bioactive molecules.
• IPL and Schoeller Allibert announced their merger, thereby creating a major packaging firm.
• Global Imports of Tomato Products, updated 30 Avril 2025.

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