R&DboostsPortugalexportsoftomatopremiumproducts

HIT participation in an R&D project allowed it to become a supplier of premium tomato products to such highly demanding markets as Japan, England, Germany and Australia.

R&D boosts Portugal exports of tomato premium products

In 2009, Portuguese HIT (Tomato Manufacturing Industry Holding) located in Vila FrancadeXira,Ribatejoregion,joinedaninternationalconsortiumwithintheEUREKA Eurostars programme proposing to develop tomato derivatives and extracts for premiummarketsandprices. The consortium developed a technology that can measure tomato raw material attributes in real time (i.e. during processing) in order to ensure the premium quality requirementsofthefinalproduct. The good results of the EUREKAEurostars project confirmed the ability of HIT to provide innovative products, extracted from tomato juice, ensuring quality levels capable of satisfying the most demanding markets, such as the Japanese, English, German and Australian markets, and others. The evidence of this are the 2,000 tons exportedfromthe2011campaign,withsalesthatexceed5M. The consortium includes the participation of the Portuguese entities HIT and the Institute of Agronomy from UTL (Lisbon Technical University), and the Danish entities RSPSystemsandtheCentreofChemistry and Water Technology, The Danish Technological Institute. This consortium successfully developed a nondestructive technology, PAT ("Process Analytical Technologies"), for processing tomatoes, which could overcome the regulatory challenges associated with the processing of fresh vegetables while conferring quality assurance to the final product from the treatment of the raw material,withasetofparametersthatsatisfycustomerrequirements.
www.adi.pt1

HIT exports tomato premium products to the most demanding markets namely, Japan, England, Germany and Australia.

R&DboostsPortugalexportsoftomatopremiumproducts

The development of technologies associated with PAT solutions ("Process Analytical Technologies") has gained increasing importance in quality control of the food and pharmaceuticalindustriesworldwide.Throughthisprocessrawmaterialattributescan be controlled, being measured in real time (i.e. during processing) in order to ensure thequalityrequirementsofthefinalproduct. The Portuguese tomato is recognised as having very rich culinary and nutritional properties, such as the presence of lycopene, the red pigment that abounds in ripe tomatoes and which is one of the most potent antioxidants in nature; for its appropriate balance in water and potassium, thus making it an excellent moisturizer; as well as for its content of 13oxoADO which enhances the elimination of fat from blood plasma1. National agricultural knowhow and excellent ecological conditions for tomato production pointed to the real ability to raise a series of differentiated products, able toachievepricesintheinternationalmarketofabout34eurosperkilogram(thesame rawmaterial,nondifferentiated,presentsaveragepricesof0.80perKilo).Therefore itwasnecessarytoensurethat,withinthestrictrulesonfoodsafety,processingwould guarantee a final product which met the specifications highly valued by the target market. In 2011, although much affected by heavy rains in May, Portugal processed 1.1 million tons of fresh tomatoes, with the production centered in Ribatejo, the region with the strongestpotentialforthisculture. National processed tomato production is almost entirely for export. This year it ought toexceed250millionEuros.

Differentiated tomato products are able to achieve prices in the international market of about 3-4 Euros per kilogram (the same raw material, non-differentiated, presents average prices of 0.80 per Kilo).

Would you like to know more and invest in this project?

Please contact HIT Holding da Industria Transformadora do Tomate, Sgps, SA Martin Stilwell Tel +351 263 285 212 E-mail: mstilwell@italagro.pt

Do you wish to find a Portuguese partner for a technology innovation project?

Please contact AdI http://www.adi.pt/uk/indexuk.htm
1

Kim,Y.,Hirai,S.,Goto,T.,Ohyane,C.,Takahashi,H.,Tsugane,T.,Konishi,C.,Fujii,T.,Inai,S.,Iijima,Y.,Aoki, K.,Shibata,D.,Takahashi,N.eKawada,T.(Fev2012).PotentPPARActivatorDerivedfromTomatoJuice, 13oxo9,11OctadecadienoicAcid,DecreasesPlasmaandHepaticTriglycerideinObeseDiabeticMice.PLoS ONE.Vol7Issue2e313317. www.adi.pt2