During the Tomato Conference from 13-15 April, Raf de Blaiser of LAVA talked about the tomato production in Belgium. The Belgium tomato area is about 500 hectares and is divided between approximately 250 growers. All Belgian tomatoes are cultivated in greenhouses.
“Total volume in 2015 amounted to 246 million kilos for loose, vine and plum tomatoes. Twenty-two million kilos of specialties were produced that year,” according to De Blaiser. Belgian tomatoes are supplied by cooperatives BelOrta, REO, LTV, CLTV and Hoogstraten.
The development of vine tomato production
Decline in beefsteak tomatoes, rise in specialties
The volume of loose tomatoes has been fairly stable for the past few years. Vine tomatoes had several ups and downs, but in general they show an upward trend. The share of beefsteak tomatoes is declining. Specialties rose sharply in the past few years. In 2005 the area amounted to several hectares, and in 2016 it has already become 106 hectares, so a good 20% of the total area.” Because of more illuminated cultivation, year-round production happens now. According to De Blaiser this will increase even more in the coming years.
Raf de Blaiser of LAVA.
“Buyers are national and international wholesalers, exporters and retailers. Seventy per cent of tomatoes are exported. The top five export countries for Belgian tomatoes are France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Italy. Until 2014, over 20 million kilos of tomatoes went to Russia annually. Unfortunately this buyer has been lost.”