Adding taste and quality to Holland's largest tomato category

Catching attention in the large TOV segment you cannot do exclusively in the greenhouse, is the opinion of the breeders of Axia Vegetable Seeds. "To match the production of current varieties is a minimum requirement for a new variety, but the difference is made further in the chain with quality."

With about 500 hectares of acreage in the Netherlands, the segment of large truss TOV is the largest in Dutch tomato cultivation. It is therefore no wonder, that the breeding companies are doing their best to get a firm foothold here. At Axia Vegetable Seeds, they are doing that this year with the new variety Xandor.

In recent years, the production figures in large truss have risen sharply. It is one of the key criteria of the segment, Michel de Winter of Axia Vegetable Seeds confirms. "If you fall short in it, you cannot even take part. So we select our new varieties on production, but it's not the only point." Particularly further down the chain, there are improvement points for the large truss on the main variety, as they see it at Axia Vegetable Seeds.

Further down the chain, it is not only about production anymore, but also taste, color and shelf life are important. "These are points where the main varieties in large truss are now falling short. And exactly these are the things that are important for trade and retail," Axia's Cees Kortekaas says . "Therefore, we wanted a variety that would distinguish itself in color and taste from the main variety. Also the fact that Xandor performs well on shelf life. The green parts remain strong. We also see this in the Belgian variety tests. Then you will succeed to distinguish yourself towards the trade with Xandor."