Matthew Johnston
In his opening speech, Matthew Johnston (Global Head Vegetable Seeds at Syngenta) pointed out the importance of uniting and working together throughout the chain. “Four years ago, when we organized this event for the first time, we were very confident in the growth opportunities of the snack segment. Our confidence has become a reality: we’ve seen a tremendous growth in the segment and hope you, as our partners in the tomato business, saw this growth as well.”
Nowadays the future is less clear. “The industry has grown, has matured and more niches have occurred. Thanks to technology the produce can shift to new growing regions. Different things are also being done with products: in branding, in packaging. This brings challenges for producers, marketers and retailers, but also brings opportunities to the industry.”
Pierre Escodo (Eurofresh), Eelke Westra (Wageningen UR) and Edwin Paul Vels (FMCG Consulting) and Rafa Povo (Matchpoint)
With the We Love Tomato program Syngenta offers their guests various tools for this new market situation and for guiding their product throughout the chain, to the right customer. Today's congress includes sessions on consumer insights, building a brand and following quality through the chain. In the coming days we will of course update you on these insights.