Comparison of tomato distribution in Japan and several other countries

Tomatoes are native to the highlands of the Andes Mountains in South America and are one of the most widely grown, popular, nutritious fruit worldwide.
Tomatoes are classified into fresh and processed tomatoes based on their intended use, with the former further classified into large, medium, and cherry tomatoes according to the fruit size, and sold with or without calyx or in clusters.
According to FAOSTAT Data (2019), China (62,764,671 t), India (19,007,000 t), and Turkey (12,841,990 t) are ranked 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd, respectively, whereas Japan (714,600 t) is ranked 27^th globally in tomato production.
This study researched the tomato market mainly in 2019, involving seven European countries, two North American countries, one Middle Eastern country, and one Southeast Asian country, compared with Japan’s capital city.
Cherry tomatoes accounted for 45.7% of all tomatoes sold in Japan, surpassing the large (34.4%) and middle sized (19.9%) tomatoes.
A similar trend was observed in Canada, Germany, the United States, and Thailand.
When focusing on the form of selling, tomatoes were most commonly sold with calyx in Japan, at 87.5%; and only reached 69.2% overseas.
Specifically in the Czech Republic, they were the most widely distributed without it or in clusters in six of the 11 researched countries.
Tomatoes are cultivated year-round in Japanese facilities.
Therefore, we will conduct market research throughout the year.

XXXI International Horticultural Congress (IHC2022): International Symposium on Integrative Approaches to Product Quality in Fruits and Vegetables

M. Shimazu, S. Motoki

calyx, cluster, fruit size, market research, Solanum lycopersicum L

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2022.1353.31