“Certainty. That’s what I would answer if they asked me: “What does the production sector need most at the moment?” says Maury Fernandez, General Manager at Harmoniz Ibérica. “We closed a campaign in which we produced less, and we saved ourselves because we sold well. This decrease in volume is symptomatic of the general state in which Spanish tomato producers find themselves. Geopolitical challenges are added to ToBRFV and other emerging pests issues – which are inherent risks of the industry – and leave no margin for competitiveness, unless another production paradigm is reinvented”, he adds.

Maury Fernández is thinking of the return of the Netherlands to a production level prior to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, high production costs (from labor to water) and, above all, the increasing import of products from third countries into the European Union, Morocco in particular.

Now, we must be aware. Morocco will increase its fruit and vegetable production surface by 5,000 hectares in the next seven years, will access to more water and increasingly competitive advantages, whether logistic, lower labour costs or lack of regulations on the use of pesticides.

To remain competitive in the tomato export market, Spanish producers will likely have to abandon the more traditional orientation to quantity. On the one hand, positioning their products outside the commodity segment, aiming to produce innovative quality products based on diversification and able to offer new eating and consumption experiences with high added value; on the other hand, increasing their level of professionalism, planning and scaling up wide-ranging partnerships that involve every player in the business chain.

This radically different approach to the market, today essential for the very survival of the sector, is part of Harmoniz’s DNA. The name itself, Harmoniz, refers to the company’s ability to create harmony between its stakeholders and the global community along the chain. Indeed, the concept of innovation is behind all the company’s activities, both R&D and commercial, and from the very beginning has been based on creativity, quality, diversification and product distinctiveness. Harmoniz’s breeders have been working for years to address agronomic challenges – such as yield and resistance to pathogens – without ignoring the most explicitly commercial ones – shelf life, taste, nutritional values, freshness and attractiveness, to name a few.

Such double focus allowed Harmoniz to consolidate its position in the market as a leading company, at the forefront in the development of innovative, flavorful and resistant-to-virosis tomato varieties, as the ToBRFV-resistant ones. Today, their catalogue counts around 20 ToBRFV-resistant hybrids: from the red mini-plum Basoche, Dormaplum, Flor de Andalucía, to the midi plum Midres and the several color specialties such as Cantando, TT-768, TomRuby, Yellow Drop and many others, and will soon release resistant versions of the best varieties already known in the Harmoniz range.

«We are very proud to offer our customers immediate solutions, agronomically and commercially valid and profitable products whose durability has been tested and verified, representing a future-proof investment for fresh tomato producers», summarizes Maury Fernández.