At Marlborough Vintners Hotel manager David Anderson proudly talks of the establishment’s tomato garden, an illustration of local commitment to “slow food” and the values that go with it.

What is involved in the business of tomatoes? Are tomatoes a growth local business option? Terry Ford, an experienced Marlborough outdoor tomato grower now in his 70s, says a local business based on selling fresh tomatoes to the local hotel and restaurants is not viable. not have ready access to locally grown fruit and vegetables. Marlborough market gardeners.

He was commenting on Marlborough citizens who bemoan that the local tourist industry does used to take advantage of the local climate to produce a range of horticultural products, but younger grower family members have left the land, taking the money paid for grape growing, and escaping the physical challenges in cropping. Grower David Harwood says for them it is a better life, to get paid and be able to spend more time out fishing. “Why bother to work?”

Terry Ford sees himself as semi retired, that his is only one point of view, and others may have different experiences to share. Terry Ford has also been working on horticultural content for a book to mark Marlborough’s 150th anniversary and writes for “The Grower”.

David Harwood, a Marlborough near pension age glasshouse tomato grower, has also tried local markets and has had to cope with local people who would not pay the prices needed. And you need a home market if you are to be a large producer, he says.

Terry Ford and his wife have had a lifetime working their ten acres, selling into niche horticultural markets. This included a time when he went door to door selling tomatoes to restaurants. Chefs tended to stay only briefly, and the Ford sales pitch had to be started over again. Payment was slow. Order sizes were as unpredictable as the numbers of clients the food service outlets had.

Marlborough’s climate helped and hindered Terry Ford’s outdoor tomato growing. A late November frost could kill his tomato crop. Northwest wind could kill plants. Irrigation needs be spot on. But Marlborough had enough rain and underground water for tomatoes – until the grapes came.

These days tomato growers need to be very small or very big to survive says Mr Ford.

Marlborough grower P H Kinzett Ltd is an exception to the impression local growers have that the tomato business is not viable locally. Terry Ford, who grows outdoors, and, David Harwood, single out Paul Kinzett’s tomato business as part of a successful, market oriented, glasshouse based horticultural business. Mr Harwood describes Mr Kinzett as highly regarded - and is the benchmark for what is successful in tomatoes in the South Island. “He shows it can be done”.

But to be a successful second tier NZ tomato grower Paul Kinzett needs much more than the local tourist market.
He declined to be interviewed for this column, preferring to leave comment about him and the state of the tomato industry to others we interviewed.

DecisionMaker Talking business is inquiring more widely into challenges facing the tomato business – a New Zealand business described by Horticulture New Zealand’s Fresh Tomato Product Group (FTPG) deputy chair Frank van Rijen as at the crossroads. Members of Horticulture New Zealand’s FTPG tell of challenges for the industry, with its good years and bad years, risks and rewards.

Tony Ivicevich, who chaired the tomato group recently and is on the board of Horticulture New Zealand, spells out some of the challenges beyond the market forces reflected through supermarkets and merchants who service them.

The Emissions Trading Scheme will add costs to growers – Mr Kinzett might have to pay 17% more for coal used in heating his greenhouses. The recent pest psyllids creates costs of science, of emergency biosecurity measures – and weaken local growers competitive advantage in NZ and Australian markets. Kiwi producers lost over $NZ6 million thanks to the pest and excessive importing last season. Biosecurity New Zealand’s insistence current and future growers pay for past lapses in biosecurity by non growers who bring pests across the border adds more costs to local growers. These costs are not readily recovered from supermarkets and consumers. Costs may deter new entrants into tomato growing, says 62 year old Tony Ivicevich.

He and his colleagues are in dialogue with the government, hoping for understanding and relief – as they seek to make tomatoes and other horticultural products into a growth industry.

New Zealand grown greenhouse vegetable crops are a key part of Horticulture New Zealand’s new strategic goal for “Horticulture Inc” to reach $10billion by 2020 in NZ’s export drive.

By Anthony Haas, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it