The season didn’t start out too bad, but since the last week of May tomato prices are low. What about the brand tomatoes? Tom Ammerlaan, of nursery Themato, is one of the producers of the Red Egg plum tomatoes.
In the last week of May, the prices for tomatoes dropped dramatically and haven’t recovered yet. "Competition from Russia, Turkey and Spain was heavy, saturating the market,” says Tom Ammerlaan, who sells his produce through the Greenery. “In a way, pricing on the market always brings you firmly back to earth. You can distinguish yourself any way you want, but you can’t escape pricing. My heart lies with a tomato that tastes good and in that sense you hope that the consumer is willing to pay handsomely for it. But you can’t separate yourself from the pricing in other segments. Everyone feels that pressure.”
The cultivation of the Red Eggs is doing fine this year, in spite of recent weather setbacks. "The second year you try out a crop is always better," Ammerlaan explains. "the main market for us is the Russian one, just like last year. But it really comes down to overall supply and demand. Right now, much produce is available from all segments. In all, a little more demand and some nice barbecue weather would be most welcome."
Watch the Red Eggs brochure here.