AGENDA

08:30 – 09:30  REGISTRATION AND NETWORKING

09:30 – 09:35  WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
Overview of the event and an introduction to the 2025 congress theme: preparing for the tomato market of 2030.

• Tom Joyce, Fruitnet
• Maura Maxwell, Fruitnet

09:35 – 09:50  TALK: EUROPEAN TOMATOES – FROM HERE TO 2030
Key insights into the future of the tomato industry, with a special focus on major category trends, supply dynamics, technological innovations and changing consumer demands in Europe.

• Lambert van Horen, Rabobank

09:50 – 10:30  PANEL DISCUSSION: WHAT WILL EUROPE’S TOMATO MARKET LOOK LIKE IN 2030?
Where Europe sources its tomatoes from is always evolving, but issues including climate change, logistical crises and wars are giving rise to rapid changes. We examine the expected shifts over the coming five years, asking what they mean for European production, as well as for producers in North Africa, the Mediterranean and Central Asia.

• David Del Pino, Freshtrategy
• Andriy Yarmak, EastFruit

10:30 – 11:15  NETWORKING BREAK  

11:15 – 12:00  TALKS AND DISCUSSION: RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABILITY AND LABOUR AVAILABILITY IN TOMATOES
How’s the net zero journey going? We examine the importance of continuing to pressure the EU to do what’s right by both growers and the environment, and highlight the multiple benefits of investing in boosting the consumption and production of sustainably grown fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes.

• Fatiha Charrat, Delassus

12:00 – 13:00  TALKS AND DISCUSSION: CAN WE RELY ON A TECH FIX?
Increasing automation appears a certainty in the tomato category, whether in enhanced greenhouse production, sorting and packing, harvesting or transportation. We look at how technologies can solve the problem of labour availability, both now and in 2030, while also asking how workers’ rights and living wages can be protected in the sector. And as homegrown tomato production becomes increasingly popular, how might new technologies boost this trend?

• David Hicks, Altered Carbon

13:00 – 14:30  LUNCH AND NETWORKING 

14:30 – 15:45  TALKS AND DISCUSSION: THE TOMATO OF THE FUTURE – WHAT WILL CONSUMERS WANT IN 2030?
What will the tomato of 2030 look like in terms of taste, nutrition, and sustainability? How will consumer demand for health-conscious and sustainably grown tomatoes shape the market, and how will the efforts of seed companies to breed higher resistance and yield evolve? Plus, a look at the role of consumer brands in the future.

• Jordi Ballester, Letitout Food Creativity 

15:45 – 16:30  NETWORKING BREAK

16:30 – 17:30  DISCUSSIONS: FRUITCAST WITH TOP EXPERTS FROM ACROSS THE TOMATO SUPPLY CHAIN
The focus of these interviews will be on the main talking points raised during the congress, as well as the key challenges of the future: how to grow consumption and meet the needs of tomorrow’s consumers, how to build resilience to weather extremes and pests and diseases, and how to respond to rising labour costs and shortages.

17:30 – 18:30  NETWORKING RECEPTION