3 ms·

except the demand for good tasting tomatoes would be sooo high I can't believe it's just Big Tomato screwing us. It's hardly a secret that garden grown or in se

except the demand for good tasting tomatoes would be sooo high I can't believe it's just Big Tomato screwing us. It's hardly a secret that garden grown or in season farmstand tomatoes are so much better than what we get in stores. I read about the "gene for better flavor also leaves green around the stem" a long long time ago, long enough that those tomatoes would be in supermarkets if it were that simple. Readily available so-called heirloom tomatoes explore all sorts of colors and gradients, and they sell well, and still they aren't that good. Gotta be more to this story.

mathgeek 3y ago
I assume the answer is pretty simple: many people shop on a budget, and spending more on better tomatoes isn’t often included. Thus we end up with producers lowering cost instead of raising quality. The consumers who do spend more are already served by the existing markets.
AlecSchueler 3y ago
If I'm standing in the shop looking at different tomatoes I have no idea how any of them taste. The only information I have is their country of origin and their physical appearance. If I've never read about trends in tomato genetics, presumably like most people, I'm just going to figure that the juiciest tastiest ones are the big red ones.
el_oni 3y ago
tomatoes tend to lose flavour and texture if refigerated. but refrigeration tends to extend shelf life. The other factor is that tomatoes that ripen on the vine tend to be tastier than tomatoes ripened off the vine. However fully ripe tomatoes tend to be squishier and don't travel as well. So they tend to be picked while firm and ripened using ethylene gas. These tend to be less tasty but easier to transport and store. It's tradeoffs. A farmers market will typically have tastier tomatoes, when they are in season, than a supermarket, because they are picked when ripe, transported a short distance and sold within days. but if you're eating tomatoes out of season then expect them to be picked while unripe, refrigerated and then ripened off the vine so they can even make it to the supermarket shelves
kuhewa 3y ago
It isn't just selection for being red, but other market characteristics that are at the expense of taste. Suitably thick skin, shelf life, uniform size, bruise resistance, and for production disease resistance and yield per unit area in production setting. Then, they get picked green for an even longer shelf life, and gassed with ethylene to turn red before sale. That definitely is not good for flavour. But if you are in a temperate climate, people expect a consistent product through the year so that is what a supply chain that can deliver red oblong fruit steadily through the winter at a cheap price yields. Supermarkets probably also prefer dealing with suppliers that can provide a steady stream rather than periodic gluts at harvest time, so picking green and storing fruit probably allows them to be trickled onto market. A vine ripened tomato is soft and either needs to get to market and sold much quicker or there will be considerably more wastage. Heirlooms in stores are always a smaller section than the 2-3 varieties of uniform red ones (now there is the 'on the vine' gimmick where they sell clusters, which were still picked green), and generally 3-4x the price. They still probably get picked early and may be refrigerated in the supply chain so you aren't getting the same thing as you would growing it yourself. I would disagree that the demand for good tasting tomatoes is they would outcompete the crap red ones. Here, in season local 'field tomatoes' (which are picked a little early but not green so show up in the store reddish, slightly less uniform in shape) and in terms of everything but colour and presentation are superior, but are the same or cheaper in price, it's not like the bullshit tomatoes disappear in season.

mathgeek 3y ago

I assume the answer is pretty simple: many people shop on a budget, and spending more on better tomatoes isn’t often included. Thus we end up with producers lowering cost instead of raising quality. The consumers who do spend more are already served by the existing markets.

AlecSchueler 3y ago

If I'm standing in the shop looking at different tomatoes I have no idea how any of them taste. The only information I have is their country of origin and their physical appearance. If I've never read about trends in tomato genetics, presumably like most people, I'm just going to figure that the juiciest tastiest ones are the big red ones.

el_oni 3y ago

tomatoes tend to lose flavour and texture if refigerated. but refrigeration tends to extend shelf life. The other factor is that tomatoes that ripen on the vine tend to be tastier than tomatoes ripened off the vine. However fully ripe tomatoes tend to be squishier and don't travel as well. So they tend to be picked while firm and ripened using ethylene gas. These tend to be less tasty but easier to transport and store. It's tradeoffs. A farmers market will typically have tastier tomatoes, when they are in season, than a supermarket, because they are picked when ripe, transported a short distance and sold within days. but if you're eating tomatoes out of season then expect them to be picked while unripe, refrigerated and then ripened off the vine so they can even make it to the supermarket shelves

kuhewa 3y ago

It isn't just selection for being red, but other market characteristics that are at the expense of taste. Suitably thick skin, shelf life, uniform size, bruise resistance, and for production disease resistance and yield per unit area in production setting. Then, they get picked green for an even longer shelf life, and gassed with ethylene to turn red before sale. That definitely is not good for flavour. But if you are in a temperate climate, people expect a consistent product through the year so that is what a supply chain that can deliver red oblong fruit steadily through the winter at a cheap price yields. Supermarkets probably also prefer dealing with suppliers that can provide a steady stream rather than periodic gluts at harvest time, so picking green and storing fruit probably allows them to be trickled onto market. A vine ripened tomato is soft and either needs to get to market and sold much quicker or there will be considerably more wastage. Heirlooms in stores are always a smaller section than the 2-3 varieties of uniform red ones (now there is the 'on the vine' gimmick where they sell clusters, which were still picked green), and generally 3-4x the price. They still probably get picked early and may be refrigerated in the supply chain so you aren't getting the same thing as you would growing it yourself. I would disagree that the demand for good tasting tomatoes is they would outcompete the crap red ones. Here, in season local 'field tomatoes' (which are picked a little early but not green so show up in the store reddish, slightly less uniform in shape) and in terms of everything but colour and presentation are superior, but are the same or cheaper in price, it's not like the bullshit tomatoes disappear in season.