Sustainability and… tomatoes?

Cooking is a passion of mine and one of the many activities where we can be sustainable #forbetter. For a few years now, my family has strived to avoid having food waste at home, as well as whenever we dine out. So, when I received these juicy DeRuiter tomatoes from our Vegetables by Bayer portfolio and produced at the Bayer Forward Farming in the Netherlands, and heard the story behind it, I was definitely excited to cook with them!

How is this tomato contributing to sustainability? Strabena?is a mini plum truss tomato been sold in several European countries. It outshines other varieties with its excellent (authentic aromatic) taste, unique strawberry shape, and powerful green parts attached to its truss.? Strabena?is ideal for traders, growers, and retailers due to its consistency in taste, color, firmness, taste, and average fruit height year-round. On top of this,?Strabena?has one unique benefit towards sustainability. This variety has an excellent attachment to the vine which means tomatoes do not fall off the vine and even after one week, there are no loose tomatoes in the packaging.

Tomato is highly perishable in nature and incurs high post-harvest losses due to unsuitable packaging methods. Plastic packaging creates a modified atmosphere for the packed tomatoes which is suitable for increasing shelf life. Plastic often serves to hold the tomatoes together. However, due to plastics’ potential harm to the environment, the trend to reduce the use of plastic is continuing. Strabena?tomatoes’ strong attachment to the vine reduces the need for plastic packaging, ensures good shelf life, and can protect against food loss during processing and handling.?This strong truss feature is beneficial as it reduces losses during harvesting and packaging.

Our #teamBayer is constantly working to provide innovative solutions for fruits & vegetables growers to provide year-round access to essential nutrients from fresh fruits and vegetables produced sustainably.

#sustainability?#sustainablepackaging?#foodloss?#foodwaste?#innovation? #seeds?#teambayer

Inci Dannenberg Ruth Mathieson Ethan Luth Venkata Kishore Julie Cavenaile, MBA Anne Williams Nico van Vliet Laura Grapes Johannes D. (J.D.) Rossouw Cristiane Louren?o