Developing Commercial Tomato Varieties with Superior Flavor

Commercial tomato farming is primarily concerned with production traits – higher yield of marketable fruits and resistance to diseases, while ignoring the flavor component. Over the past seven years we’ve made crosses in the field among flavorful heirlooms and high yielding commercial types. We’ve selected and advanced tomato varieties that blend the best traits of heirlooms (flavor, texture, aroma) and modern commercial cultivars (higher yields, firmer, blemish-free fruit). Currently, we’ve developed and released 27 new varieties, and more are in the pipeline. Selection under contrasting environments (cool, dry coastal vs hot, dry inland) appears to generate widely adapted varieties. We have observed steady improvement in fruit quality, firmness, shelf life and marketable yields, while providing tomatoes with enjoyable flavors and textures.