Just when you think the tomatoes couldn’t be made smaller, the kid-friendly tomberry arrives.
Blueberry-like in size, it is the smallest tomato in the world and has recently been launched in Australia.
The greenhouse company that grows most of Australia’s tomberries in North Adelaide says it can’t keep up with demand.
Henry Liu’s company is Australia’s leading producer of tomberry. (ABC News: Kerry Staight)
“I see consumers love this product. I can see that chefs love to use it for their dishes, so I think it has a future,” said P’Petual CEO Henry Liu.
But what is a convenient snack for consumers is proving rather uncomfortable for producers.
Challenges to grow the small volume
“I’m always ready for a challenge and that’s definitely one of the biggest challenges,” said Andrew Potter, lead producer of P’Petual, which has been in the tomato game for nearly three decades.
Tomberry was developed in the Netherlands by crossing a very small wild tomato with modern varieties using conventional breeding techniques.
“It’s about 25 percent more maintenance than a traditional tomato crop,” Potter said.
The head producer, Andrew Potter, knows first hand how complicated tomberries are, from getting the flowers and fruits to set quickly and evenly at first to staying on top of the plant in as it matures. (ABC New: Kerry Staight)
“It’s probably the first stage of breeding of this variety and it hasn’t really adjusted yet, so hopefully in the next few years there’s a new breeding.”
The variety produces up to 300 tiny tomatoes in a single corner in the summer.
The first challenge is to get the flowers and fruit to set quickly and evenly at first.
Workers must then stay on top of all the shoots the plant produces as it matures.
Pests such as whiteflies and spiders can also be a headache.
Pollination without bumblebees
And then there’s one of the biggest challenges: how do you pollinate a crop that produces so many flowers?
The company has developed a semi-automated fan system to pollinate the crop. (ABC New: Kerry Staight)
“When they grow tomberry overseas, they use bumblebees in their greenhouses,” Andrew Potter said.
“Traditionally, they have to use about five times more bumblebees in a tomato crop compared to a tomato crop.”
“The challenge here in Australia is that we don’t have bumblebees.”
Manual pollination rods used in many Australian greenhouses are not practical for such a prolific crop.
Therefore, the company is trying to automate the process.
He has developed a fan machine that can move through the rows on its own, blowing flowers and releasing pollen.
But workers still have to push the machine towards the rails that go down each row.
The prolific and small fruit was developed in the Netherlands by crossing a type of wild tomato with modern varieties using conventional breeding techniques. (ABC New: Kerry Staight)
He is now working with the Queensland University of Technology to eliminate it by introducing a robotic platform under the pollinator that is located around the greenhouse.
“Inside the platform, it has a set of sensors, so it has a laser scanner and a camera,” said Chris Lehnart, a senior professor at QUT.
“The robot’s innovation is to be able to detect pipe rails and move from one rail to the next.”
Harvesting tomberries
Growing tomberries is only half the battle.
Choosing and processing them also leads to problems.
The fruit cannot be harvested by hand because it is too labor-intensive.
Due to the density of tomberries, it was ruled out harvesting each piece by hand. Instead, the grapes are cut and dried for two days to help separate the tomberries from the plant. (ABC New: Kerry Staight)
Instead, the whole grapes are harvested and then dried for two days.
This makes the fruit fall more easily when the grapes are connected to a shaking machine.
But even that is not as simple as it sounds.
“If it doesn’t dry properly, the skin will tear and create holes, and once you create the holes and get moisture, it will turn into mold,” Henry Liu said.
He has spent a lot of time and money working with local technicians to adjust the machines to the grave.
“The first thing I thought about was the stress,” said electrical technician Enrico Polacchi.
“It’s very delicate, the skins are soft, it breaks on the machines.
After many trials and errors, the shaking machine is a much more practical option than manual picking. (ABC New: Kerry Staight)
“So it’s not an easy process.”
But Mr Polacchi says they have almost succeeded.
“It’s being achieved. The balance is probably 90 percent, so we need to get to 100 percent,” he said.
With so many challenges, you may be wondering, is it all worth it?
After two years of testing, the answer is: not yet.
“We don’t make money. In fact, we make a loss by doing this,” Henry Liu said.
“Why I keep going with this variety is because I have the same experience when I grow mini cucumbers.”
Mr. Liu put on mini cucumbers when they were experimental.
They are common now and he is one of the largest producers in the country.
Henry Liu is confident that the tomberry will be a success, after facing similar challenges when he started producing mini cucumbers. (ABC New: Kerry Staight)
And with tomberries already in high demand, he believes that despite the challenges, he is a winner.
“New things aren’t supposed to go well at first,” he said.
“So I do it to try to figure out all these problems and find a solution.”
Watch this story on your ABC TV landline at 12:30 on Sunday or on ABC iview.