Tomato Business Going Strong in China
By Michelle Fabio
Even though the Chinese aren’t traditionally fond of eating tomatoes, growing and selling processed tomato products such as ketchup, paste, sauce, and salsa has become big business in China.
In fact, only California and perhaps Italy can claim to sell more tomatoes for processing than China. The boost given to the Chinese economy by the growth and sale of tomatoes—an industry that’s only taken hold in the last ten years or so—is nothing short of impressive, but not everyone is happy about it.
Especially competitors.
Italy in particular has taken issue with Chinese tomato processing, especially of tomato paste. A decade ago, some Italian companies built new processing plants in China in order to get a cheap product for exporting. They’d put a “Made in Italy” label on the products and ship them to Africa for sale.
In the meantime, China realized that it could do the same without the Italian companies’ help and began producing its own tomatoes and paste, becoming a major player in the export game in Africa and Europe.
According to media reports, Italian farmers have suffered as harvesting tomato crops isn’t cost effective as Chinese products have driven down the market price. And it’s not only Italy’s farmers–Senegal, Australia, Russia, and Turkey are also concerned with the effect of the Chinese tomato revolution on their tomato growers.
Whether it’s fair or not, many in the business still question the quality of China’s tomato products, a concern that was supported when Chinese tomato paste was found wormy and rotting in Bari, one of Italy’s major seaports, in 2002.
Moreover, it has been reported that this year, China lost nearly a quarter of its tomato crop because of mold in Inner Mongolia, the main area in which tomatoes are grown; clearly some kinks need to be worked out in the Chinese growing system if it will continue to meet with success.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Nice write-up, Michelle. My rule of thumb these days is don’t buy anything from China!
November 30th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
[...] Tomato Business Going Strong in ChinaWhether it’s fair or not, many in the business still question the quality of China’s tomato products, a concern that was supported when Chinese tomato paste was found wormy and rotting in Bari, one of Italy’s major seaports, in 2002. … [...]
December 1st, 2007 at 11:18 am
Thanks Aileen; unfortunately for China, you’re not the first person I’ve heard who has expressed the same sentiment.