"Switzerland: "We are independent, to guarantee our freedom"

The Swiss tomato market is doing well. "The market is small, and the production and demand are great, so there is a lot of pressure on the market,” says Alban Jaquenoud of Jaquenoud Maraîchers. "In the summer, the demand is always lower due to the holidays."

The Swiss producer has just built a new greenhouse of four hectares. "We grow tomatoes on a total surface of 11 hectares. We also have 2,000 square meters of solar panels, to produce our own solar energy."

Greenhouse

The new greenhouse is nearly 4 ha, with a trellis of 9,6 meter and a 4.8 meter bay length. It is provided with a 6,5 gutter height, a gable height of 6.5 m and a completely wide coated substructure. The new greenhouse is of the type Activenlo by Horconex. This system consists of ventilation units mixing out- and indoor air and sending it to the greenhouse at a set level. This means it's possible to ventilate actively while remaining the vents closed, offering savings on energy and reducing insect pressure.

The complete project is provided with a Luxuous 1147 FR by Svensson on a Van der Valk Screenvision system. The project is extended with a service space (3.500m2) including a boiler house, irrigation room, processing space, canteen & offices.

Video of the building of the greenhouse, last Winter

Independent

Alban: "We are three young people: my brother, my cousin, and I. We aren't part of any cooperative. We are independent, to guarantee our freedom. If we’d like to produce a blue tomato, we produce a blue tomato. We are free to do what we want, considering marketing and variety selection. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. Being independent always carries along a little more risk."

All of Jacquenoud's tomatoes are destined for the Swiss market. "Our tomatoes are sold to supermarkets, restaurants and wholesalers. Most of our surface is intended for the production of clustered tomatoes. We also grow piccolo tomatoes, in which we are exclusive in Switzerland. It's a good tomato, although it’s not easy to produce. It has less yield than other tomatoes in the area, but it is a tomato that tastes great, and is well appreciated.” Other varieties grown by Jaquenoud are the clustered cherry, the cocktail, the round, the mini-apple, small trials with mini-yellow apple tomatoes, and the pink tomato.

Market

The demand for pink tomato is stable. "We have been offering pink tomatoes for nine or ten years now. We have been growing the pink ones in clusters for three years. On the demand side, there are not very big differences between the years."

The pink tomato is mainly demanded by big distribution channels, due to it being the only tomato cultivated in soil. "Supermarkets are facing a great demand for slightly more traditional products. We created a packaging that shows that the pink tomato is a product closer to nature. It works in its advantage."

According to Alban, there are still many things to work on. "We do not have artificial lamps: this is why we face a light deficit for part of the year. This poses great challenges.