Press Info item. 21/07/2011

The tomato creates a European union

European consumers agrees as to their preferences for tomatoes. That is the conclusion of a study carried out by researchers from three European Union countries, including a team from INRA. Far from being anecdotal, their findings will help breeders to offer products that better respond to consumer demands. These results were published in the "Journal of Food Science" on 3 November 2010.

On what subject do a Dutchman, and Italian and a Frenchman all agree?  They all have the same preferences regarding their consumption of the most widely produced fruit in the world, the tomato.
A lack of taste and flavour in tomatoes is strongly criticised today by consumers.  This is now an area for improvement that is being taken into account by producers. 

©Florence Carreras/INRA

In the context of the European EUSOL project, INRA researchers in Avignon coordinated a comparative study aimed at establishing consumer preferences at a European scale and identifying the traits to be improved in the tomatoes available for retail sale.  This study was performed in collaboration with researchers from the Technical Centre for the Fruit and Vegetable Industry (France), Wageningen University (Netherlands) and the Italian National Research Centre, and also involved the participation of several seed production companies (Nunhems, Gautier Semences, Syngenta) and tomato producers (Saveol and Rougeline in France).  Tests were carried out by more than 800 consumers from three countries involved: the Netherlands, France and Italy.  In each country, panels of experts thus established the sensory profiles of 16 tomato varieties representing the diversity of the types marketed today: standard round tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or traditional varieties.  Preference maps were then drawn up for each country and revealed the traits that needed to be improved in order to satisfy consumers.  Global analysis demonstrated that consumer preferences were similar from one country to another, although several groups of consumers could be identified in each country.  The taste (mainly the sugar-acid ratio and aromatic intensity) and texture (firm fruits being preferred or not, depending on the consumer groups) were of great importance and determined the distribution between these groups.  A detailed analysis also showed that appearance was a significant criterion for consumers.
Four categories of consumers were found in each country: the “gourmets” were the most numerous and liked tasty and juicy tomatoes; the "traditionalists" were sensitive to a melting texture and the aromas of traditional ribbed tomatoes; "classic" consumers preferred firm, round and sweet tomatoes, and finally "indifferent" consumers displayed no clear preferences but tended to reject novelty.  The results of this study led the researchers to conclude that there were fewer differences in preference between countries than between groups of consumers within these countries.

A clearer understanding of consumer preferences at a European scale will allow breeders to take better account in their selection programmes of the tomato varieties that best respond to the most pertinent criteria.
 

Reference :
Consumer Preferences for Fresh Tomato at the European Scale: A Common Segmentation on Taste and Firmness. Journal of Food Science 75, 531–541, 2010.
Causse M, C Friguet, C. Coiret, M. Lepicier, B.Navez, M.Lee, N. Holthuysen, F. Sinesio, E. Moneta, S. Grandillo.

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