[JacobDotVI]

I wonder if they can charge more for the non-cold-chain tomatoes due to better flavor:

>Cold storage is widely used to extend shelf-life of agriculture products. For tomato, this handling results in reduced flavor quality. Our work provides major insights into the effects of chilling on consumer liking, the flavor metabolome and transcriptome, as well as DNA methylation status.

from: https://www.pnas.org/content/113/44/12580

[ModernMech]

Yeah, I grew some tomatoes on my balcony this summer, and the way they taste compared to what I would buy at the store you would think they are completely different fruits. I would pay maybe 30% more for a sandwich with fresh tomatoes as opposed to the.... red slime that usually come on them.

[martythemaniak]

I've considered a "startup" in this space before. Take all the equipment, knowhow and enthusiasm of the cannabis industry and apply it to tomatoes. Grow them next to customers, under lights with highly controlled conditions and an obsessive focus on flavour. Guarantee less than 24hrs picked-to-delivered.

My research (napkin math) suggested that it would be doable at $8-10/lb, which is certainly high, but probably low enough to attract connoisseurs, high-end restaurants, and regular folks who like to treat themselves. It would be especially valuable during the winter, when you just can't get a proper tomato.

[davidhunter]

Exactly what we're doing (optimal.ag). Interestingly, the cannabis industry has taken all the equipment, knowhow and enthusiasm of the (Dutch) tomato industry and applied it to cannabis - not the other way around.

[martythemaniak]

First time I flew into Amsterdam it was dusk and I was mesmerized by the seemingly endless fields of greenhouses growing weed. Only years later (after telling everyone about it) did I learn they were actually growing produce :D

Dutch tomatoes have a reputation for being bland ("water bombs"), is making more flavourfull ones just product focus? Like picking the right varietal, picking them at the right time, delivering quickly, etc?

[lathyrus_long]

Beyond genetics and environment, soil/nutrient fertility also affects the taste. For example, drought-stressing tomatoes near harvest generally improves flavor at the cost of yield, both by the obvious mechanism of adding less water and by more complicated interactions with the biosynthesis of flavor compounds.

In hydroponics the same improvement is achieved by increasing the nutrient solution concentration (since that's what drought stress looks like to the roots), often literally with salt, NaCl. Growers will typically describe this as raising the solution electrical conductivity, EC, since that's an easily-measured proxy for total dissolved ionic stuff. Hand-held EC meters cost a few dollars, or large systems often run with closed-loop measurement and dosing similar to my

https://github.com/hydromisc/hydromisc

[mikesabbagh]

In Europe, tomatoes are Dutch and feed the more southern countries. In North America, Canada imports tomatoes from the US in winter!!

[hoytech]

Technically true, but Canada exports more tomatoes to the US than it imports. It is the 5th largest tomato exporter in the world. Here's an article about tomato growing in Canada: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/16/473526920/ho...

[davidhunter]

>First time I flew into Amsterdam it was dusk and I was mesmerized by the seemingly endless fields of greenhouses growing weed. Only years later (after telling everyone about it) did I learn they were actually growing produce :D

Lol - yeah the production of cannabis is not yet legalised in The Netherlands.

This is a great article on the Dutch greenhouse industry (unfortunately behind paywall): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/holland-...

>Dutch tomatoes have a reputation for being bland ("water bombs"), is making more flavourfull ones just product focus? Like picking the right varietal, picking them at the right time, delivering quickly, etc?

I've heard this before too. Maybe this was a thing at one point in history but it's not true any more. If you go into a supermarket today in Europe then all the tomatoes on offer will have been grown in greenhouses. The low-end stuff will have been grown in Spanish/Moroccan low-tech greenhouses (plastic tunnels). The higher-end stuff will have been grown in Dutch glasshouses.

[pvaldes]

I wouldn't call it "Low-tech" greenhouses in Spain. Is exactly the same stuff than dutch ones, the same seeds and the same bumblebees and the same chemicals, except by the Mediterranean climate and much more sun. (And I wouldn't be surprised to find that some of the Dutch tomatoes sold at an extra price are really cultured in Spain by Dutch companies).

[ginko]

I think this would work well in places like Norway where electricity and water is cheap and people are used to food being expensive already.

[davidhunter]

Yep: https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9309162/norway-s-nursery-...

[webnrrd2k]

Brown tomatoes are showing up in more grocery stores now, and have a much better tomato flavor than beefsteak tomatoes. They are often sold in a sleeve of six or so, or labeled as "kumatos". Really, give them a try - they are much better than regular store tomatoes.

[Wistar]

I have seen brown ones packaged as you described but labeled as Capri. Maybe they aren't the same but they are a lot better than the average commercial tomato.

[JacobDotVI]

I keep hoping that one of these shipping container farms will support tomatoes due to this issue. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any (although some claim version N will be tomatoes). My hunch is that they can't grow tomatoes dense enough to make the economics work.

[nhoughto]

and for something slightly more accessible and with photos =) on the same topic:

https://www.seriouseats.com/why-you-should-refrigerate-tomat...