{"id":538757,"date":"2026-07-13T06:08:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T06:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/538757\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T06:08:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T06:08:27","slug":"britons-give-classic-round-tomato-the-red-card-as-coloured-and-vine-varieties-score-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/538757\/","title":{"rendered":"Britons give classic round tomato the red card as coloured and vine varieties score | Tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a long time the classic round, red tomato has dominated British salads and sandwiches, but its supremacy is coming under threat as sales of rainbow colours and the upmarket rival \u201ccherry on the vine\u201d take off.<\/p>\n

\u201cNon-red tomatoes\u201d sales are up 21% this year, a growth rate that far exceeds the overall market, according to Paul Faulkner, of Evesham Vale Growers.<\/p>\n

This category covers yellow, orange, green, purple, brown and even striped varieties, which are becoming a more common sight in British supermarkets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got consumers used to the fact that tomatoes don\u2019t have to be red,\u201d said Faulkner. The grower, which supplies Sainsbury\u2019s and Aldi, is in lockstep with the trends reshaping the tomato industry, having diverted 20% of its growing area to an orange, cherry, on-the-vine variety.<\/p>\n

In the past growers had worked with seed breeders on colourful varieties but, while they had looked the part, they \u201cdidn\u2019t taste great\u201d, said Faulkner. \u201cNow we\u2019ve got new varieties that not only look great but taste fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Britons spend just over a \u00a31bn a year on tomatoes, according to the grocery data analyst Worldpanel by Numerator. In the year to 14 June, sales are up 3% on the previous 52 weeks. Within that figure, non-red tomatoes are the fastest growing part of the market.<\/p>\n

Blue bayou tomatoes. \u2018If you see colour it makes you feel good,\u2019 said Paul Thomas, of Isle of Wight Growers. Photograph: Matthew Taylor\/Alamy<\/p>\n

In a sign of how tastes are changing, the data also indicates that sales of premium cherry-on-the-vine tomatoes are on track to overtake the round salad variety this year.<\/p>\n

While the classic round is still the biggest seller, with annual sales of \u00a3190m, its popularity is slipping. \u201cWe expect premium cherry on the vine will overtake them this year,\u201d said Faulkner.<\/p>\n

Sales of classic tomatoes are about \u00a35m below 2025 levels while their upmarket rival has gained \u00a316m to \u00a3180m. Over a two-year period, sales of non-red tomatoes have doubled to \u00a350m.<\/p>\n

Most supermarkets are now selling large variety boxes of British tomatoes that can work out cheaper a kilogram than smaller packs. Waitrose says sales of its \u00a35 heritage tomato collection box are 22.5% up on last summer.<\/p>\n

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The bigger colour choice has injected some theatre into what was historically a \u201cboring\u201d market, based on a six-pack of classic round tomatoes, says Simon Conway, chair of the British Tomato Growers\u2019 Association. Given most households buy tomatoes anyway, \u201cit\u2019s very hard to get new consumers buying. What you can do is get them to trade up and buy more, and with some of these bigger boxes, the price per kilo is better.\u201d<\/p>\n

That times have changed for tomatoes is highlighted by Isle of Wight Tomatoes<\/a>, which produces up to 55 varieties a year. It sells its \u201cred, green and everything in-between\u201d tomatoes by online subscription as well as through retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Ocado.<\/p>\n

Paul Thomas, its managing director, says that when it comes to taste, an \u201corange tomato is a little bit fruitier than a red\u201d while yellow is \u201cless acid, more sweet\u201d. A brown tomato can have \u201cmore of a umami flavour\u201d. Its products, which include green \u201ctiger\u201d and \u201cpink oishi\u201d varieties, have been a hit with shoppers this summer, with the brand\u2019s sales through Ocado up 86% year on year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the UK the consumer has come a long way in terms of confidence with food and willingness to try new things,\u201d said Thomas. \u201cPeople who are trying to eat healthily, or to eat less meat, are looking for different ways to deliver flavour and excitement. With tomatoes, it is also sensory because if you see colour it makes you feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a long time the classic round, red tomato has dominated British salads and sandwiches, but its supremacy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-538757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}