Keywords: tomatoes, Israel<\/p>\n
There are Cherry tomatoes, purple tomatoes, red eggplants, purple potatoes. From this week two new tomatoes will hit Israeli supermarket shelves. That is\u00a0the Bon Bon Tomato, the world\u2019s sweetest tomato and the Tipa Tomato, the world\u2019s smallest.
<\/p>\n
The new tomato plants are the creation of Ariel Kitron, Dubi Dagay, and David Mizrahi. They are three farmers from Moshav Idan in the Arava. In 2015 they founded Kedem, an agri-tech company, with the goal of developing innovative fruits and vegetables.
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe missed the sweet taste that tomatoes once had, the taste of our childhood. That is why we decided that our goal is to create the world\u2019s sweetest tomato,\u201d Dagay told Tazpit Press Service (TPS) while discussing the Bon Bon tomato.
<\/p>\n
Dagay said the Bon Bon looks the same as a regular tomato, but has high quality both in taste and shelf life. \u201cWe have achieved a sweet and unique taste with a different aroma than the standard tomato, using the world\u2019s leading technology and unique greenhouse growing that achieve a sweetness that is 30% higher than any other tomato in the market,\u201d Dagay said.
<\/p>\n
Kitron, Dagay, and Mizrahi worked for three years with researchers from the Central-and Northern-Arava Research and Development Institute on the new species.\u00a0\u00a0It is a period considered a short time in developing new products.
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe mapped both the Israeli and global markets and found that there is a demand for a new and unique variety of a particularly small tomato suitable for finger foods and salads that don\u2019t need to be sliced,\u201d Dagay said of the Tipa tomato. It is smaller than a shekel coin and has already attracted interest from leading chefs around the world.
<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this stage, we are growing the little tomato in red and yellow. We will consider expanding to additional colors according to demand,\u201d Dagay said.
<\/p>\n
Dr. Yonatan Elkind is an expert in genetic engineering to plant breeding and physiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. According to \u00a0him Israel remains a leader in agricultural innovation, but international competition is much tougher than before.
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cultivation of new kinds of seeds is a very long process which can take six to eight years, but the demand is very high. It is very similar to the fashion market; every season you need to change the collection,\u201d Elkind said.<\/p>\n