"The trend is moving towards rarities and heirloom varieties"

It has been an uninterrupted high season at LGV-Frischgemüse's 100 Austrian family businesses. This, despite the heat wave, because when it is sunny and hot, tomatoes develop their full flavour. Thanks to short transportation distances, the tomatoes grown by these families can ripen fully at the horticultural businesses. So, they arrive freshly harvested at traders.

Austrians eat an average of 29.2 kg of tomatoes per year. This flavoursome fruit-vegetable, therefore, leads the pack when it comes to the most popular vegetables in this country. Austria even dubbed 8 August 'The Day of the Tomato'. The current trend is toward rarer varieties. Heirloom varieties cultivated in Austria are also being rediscovered.

Oxheart tomatoes - Photo: LGV-Frischgemüse

"Together, our 100 small-scale LGV gardening families make a significant contribution to Austrians. They supply extraordinary, flavourful, local tomatoes. They grow about 12,500 tonnes of tomatoes annually. This is because the demand for Austrian vegetables keeps increasing. More and more small family businesses are investing in tasty, colourful or rediscovered varieties. This means we can currently offer 26 different varieties to the trade market. These include 13 different kinds of cherry and 13 of the larger or rarer varieties. These larger varieties include the Oxheart (Ochsenherz) tomato, which can weigh up to a kilogram each", says Florian Bell, LGV-Frischgemüse's Director.

Grower, Franz Pannagl (left) and Florian Bell, LGV Frischgemüse's Director (right) -Photo: LGV

The 80-year-old 'Ochsenherz' (Oxheart) variety takes its name from its unusual ribbed shape. It has a particularly thin peel and almost no seeds. When it comes to taste, this rarity is at the top of the pile among tomatoes. This speciality is harvested by tomato grower, Franz Pannagl, from the end of April to the end of September. The Oxheart tastes even better when it is still slightly green with an orange blush.

For more information:

LGV-Frischgemüse Wien reg. Gen. m.b.H.
Head of Marketing and Communication

22 Haidestraße
1110 Vienna
Tel.: +43 (0) 176 069 700
www.lgv.at