ISLE OF WIGHT TOMATOES

Joanna Weinberg, Teals

When I was growing up, tomatoes were all the same: about the size of a golf ball, a pale reddish colour, either hard and sour or soft and fluffy - and almost always without flavour. Then, one year, we went on holiday to Greece. It was the holiday of dreams: messing around all day by a calm sea with the sun beating down, followed by warm, sleeveless evenings to the loud beat of the cicadas’ rhythmic song. But what holds in my memory most was the tomatoes. Huge and fat, intensely sweet but with an acidic tang, bursting with juice. Unlike anything that was called by that name in the UK at the time.

It is still fair to say that not all tomatoes are grown equal. Supermarkets across the country still offer a plastic-bagged tray of ‘salad’ tomato which offers nothing but disappointment and tastes, if anything, of greenhouse. But not where Isle of Wight Tomatoes has anything to do with it.

You know when you come across their tomatoes, because they look different. Firstly, they are in cardboard trays, without sight of plastic. The fruits come in a kaleidoscopic variety of colours and sizes, from small, yellow cherry tomatoes to deep purplish varieties, bright striped greens, orange ones large and tiny, and a range of classic reds along the way. But while looks matter, it’s the bite that will blow you away. You can eat them from your hand like a piece of fruit, biting straight in, perhaps dipping the edge in a little salt, before taking another munch. So balanced in acidity and sweetness, they need nothing more than a little olive oil to dress them along with a scrunch of mild sea salt.

‘We get more sunshine hours than anywhere else in the country and we couldn’t do what we do without it,’ says Daniella Voisey, the New Business Development Manager at Isle of Wight Tomatoes. ‘We’re blessed with the best natural resources where we are, as well as a team of experts.’

Isle of Wight Tomatoes was founded in 2007 by Paul Thomas, a chef who, returning from time spent travelling in Australia, was looking for a new challenge, when he met Jeff MacDonald. The two took over 60 acres of glasshouses in the Arreton Valley dating back to the 1970s and began to drive their produce weekly to a handful of farmers’ markets, initially in London. Word spread and queues at their stalls grew: they were selling out of tomatoes by 10am. Gradually, the company grew too, and now produces a reported 8 million tons of tomatoes a year.

As a company, they are committed to good environmental growing practices, including a completely biodegradable growing system, onsite composting facility, rainwater harvesting and energy centres that generate electricity for island homes while providing Co2 and heat for the tomato-growing operation.

One of the keys to their success is their huge trialling programme. ‘We work with speciality seed houses across the world to develop new varieties alongside a range of heritage tomatoes, so we can make sure we grow the best tomatoes we can,’ she says. ‘Expertise and knowledge about varieties starts with them.’ The tomatoes are grown, tasted by a special taste panel and trialled through the farmers’ markets for direct feedback. ‘Our stallholders will come back to us with reports from regular weekly customers of which tomatoes are going down the best.’ Most tomatoes they trial have no name, just a code. Last year’s particular success story was a bright green baby plum. This year, they are excited about a golden Coeur de Bouef, which is a large, yellow, ridged variety. Where most tomato growers will produce five or so varieties, they will develop 30-40 out of a trial of some 200 seeds each year, all grown slowly with a focus on flavour rather than yield. Their produce has now extended to other parts of the nightshade family: look out for beautifully coloured aubergines and peppers in different shapes and sizes.

Alongside the boxes of fresh produce, their bottled and jarred tomato sauces and condiments are well worth paying attention to. ‘There’s an unavoidable element of waste when you’re working with large amounts of fresh produce and we didn’t want to lose a single tomato if we could help it. We built a state-of-the-art kitchen at the nursery so Aggie, our development chef, can work on her new ideas. ‘They are all small batch jars and bottles so we listen to what our customers like and want more of,’ says Daniella. Currently, the shakshuka sauce, (a tomato sauce flavoured with Middle Eastern spices) is testing well at the markets, along with green tomato ketchup which is going down a storm. What is significant about the whole range is the freshness of the tomato flavour – they do not have the metallic flavour you’d usually associate with tinned tomatoes. Kitchen equipment includes several huge dehydrators that extract moisture from the tomatoes and turn out intensely flavoured dried and semi-dried tomatoes which are packed in good oil with herbs and aromatics.

Like me, I’m sure many swing between joy at our hotter, dryer summers and concern over changing weather patterns, not least farmers. But one thing is for sure – for UK tomatoes the only way is up.

thetomatostall.co.uk teals.co.uk