Sustainable production under the Moroccan Cherry Tomato Project
Mr. James, you import and supply multiple retailers in the UK with cherry tomatoes. From your point of view, what are the benefits of this Food Chain Partnership project?
“One of the challenges we have as a company is that we cannot spend enough time with our growers in the country. Bayer has resources in the country and knowledge of crop protection. Through good dialogue and working on the ground with the growers regularly, through education and training we have optimized the use of crop protection products significantly.”
Could you please describe in detail what you did?
Robert James: “The project was initiated by Thanet Earth, one of the UK’s largest importers of cherry tomatoes, which is collaborating with cherry tomato producer Duroc from Southern Morocco. Duroc’s technicians and our experts have drawn up a program that reduces the number of active ingredients and spray applications without compromising on food quality or building up resistances. As a result, we have been able to reduce the number of active ingredients used on cherry tomatoes by 30 percent and the number of spraying applications by 20 percent.”
The Cherry Tomato Project is one of four Food Chain Partnership projects in Morocco. How, when and why did the collaboration start?
Salma Bittar: “The collaboration started three years ago with the aim of producing healthy, high-quality cherry tomatoes in a sustainable manner for the Northern European market. As soon as Thanet Earth outlined its specific requirements, we went down to the field, met with Duroc representatives, and worked closely in workshops in order to solve the relevant issues.”
Do you agree that consumers are more and more aware of sustainability and traceability topics?
Robert James: “As an importer we are challenged about residues, the number of active ingredients and also resistance management. We are facing very conscious consumers in the UK, driven by consistent quality at affordable prices. For us, success is when a consumer buys a product, likes it and buys it again next week. If the quality is not consistently good, we’ve lost the customer. So, it is our goal to have a better product quality in the supply chain that is put on the shelf and keeps the customer happy.”
How do you make sure your providers comply with quality standards?
Robert James: “We have a lot of requirements in the UK with various certifications and growers have to comply with them. Duroc is very good at fulfilling all these requirements. When I see a certificate or spraying record, I know that a lot of effort was made and I know that the crop protection solution is applied correctly and in a safe, sustainable way.”
Let’s take a look into the crystal ball: Will Bayer and Thanet Earth expand their partnership during the next years?
Salma Bittar: “We’d like to expand the program to all 300 hectares that Duroc owns. This year we are focusing on improving protocols addressing fungal diseases while in the upcoming years the development of biological solutions will be a major objective.”
Source: Bayer Food Chain Partnership