Strong Prospects for the Tomato Processing Industry
Driven by the growth of the fast food industry and convenient snacking, the demand of processed tomato products has been growing rapidly throughout the world. This is providing tremendous scope for anyone who plans to venture into setting up a tomato processing plant.
Tomato currently represents the world’s largest vegetable crop after potato and sweet potato and tops the list of canned vegetables. It originated in the region extending from Ecuador to Chile in the western coastal plain of South America and was first domesticated in Mexico. Today, tomato is not only sold fresh but also as a processed product such as paste, soup, juice, sauce, powder and concentrate. Earlier, Europe and the Americas represented the most important producers, but today it is produced in more than 144 countries, with China being the biggest producer. Tomato processing began in 1847, when Harrison Woodhull Crosby, the chief gardener at Lafayette College developed a crude method of canning tomatoes. Prior to 1890 all tomato canning was done manually. Industry techniques improved canning process and tomato juice came on the market with the development of the juice extractor in the 1920s. In the late 1960s, mechanical harvesting became a reality and this drove the industry to develop better techniques for bulk handling and processing. A worldwide tomato processing industry has since evolved. In 2014, an estimated 34 Million Tons of tomatoes were processed globally with the United States being the biggest producer, followed by Italy. Their position, however, is now being threatened by China where the tomato processing industry is currently growing rapidly. Currently the top 10 global tomato processing firms account for around 40% of the total global production. Of these firms, 6 are headquartered in the United States, 3 in China and 1 in Singapore. California based Morning Star currently represents the world’s biggest tomato processing company accounting for around 10% of the total global production.