Kraft Heinz Polska is expanding its regenerative agriculture program and investing in climate-resilient tomato production, following a season marked by extreme weather across Central Europe. To identify varieties best suited to increasingly unstable conditions, the company trialed 100 tomato cultivars this year.
The 2025 season highlighted the volatility affecting European growers: an unusually warm February–April accelerated vegetation, followed by May frosts that caused plant damage. A rainy July further complicated the cycle. According to the European Commission, EU tomato output is expected to decline by 2.6%, driven largely by lower volumes in the processing segment.
Despite the challenging season, yields at the Pudliszki processing hub were only slightly below last year's results, and fruit quality exceeded expectations, with higher extract parameters. The company attributes this to long-term adoption of regenerative practices, such as soil-health improvement, organic inputs, and reduced tillage, combined with targeted technological upgrades.
The Pudliszki facility collaborates with around 150 local growers, sourcing 90% of vegetables within a 30 km radius.
To build resilience against weather extremes, Kraft Heinz is expanding field research and infrastructure. The company has installed advanced weather stations and predictive models to anticipate disease pressure, optimize crop protection programs, and reduce losses.
Polish trials are supported by global agronomic data from tomato-producing regions with similar climate risks, including Egypt, Turkey, Brazil and the United States. This enables rapid transfer of proven strategies into local cultivation systems.
Long-term plans centre on regenerative agriculture, including crop rotation, organic fertilization, no-till methods, and improved irrigation technologies to enhance soil moisture retention and reduce vulnerability to drought and erosion.
Source: www.sadyogrody.pl
