Kumatoes

Has anyone tried these yet? They are really nice.

The Kumato is a trade name given to the variety of tomato developed in Spain called "Olmeca", which went by experimental number SX 387. It is grown in Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Turkey, Australia and Greece by specially selected growers.[1] The Kumato is a standard size variety of tomato weighing between 80 and 120 grams. It is a green to reddish brown, and sweeter than typical tomatoes due to a higher fructose content.[2]. Kumatoes have a longer shelf life than typical tomatoes [3]. Kumato type tomatoes are considered gourmet tomatoes [4].

Unlike other tomato varieties, seeds cannot be purchased by the general public. Syngenta[5] has stated that they will never make Kumato seeds available to the general public as the Kumato tomato is grown under a concept known as a club variety, whereby Syngenta sells seeds only to licensed growers that go through a rigorous selection process, and participation is by invitation only. Syngenta maintains ownership of the variety throughout the entire value chain from breeding to marketing, whereby selected growers must agree to follow specified cultivation protocols, and in addition pay a flat license fee per acre of greenhouse, the cost of the seed, in addition to royalties based on the volume of tomatoes produced. Typically Syngenta licenses only one large vertically integrated greenhouse producer per country that has well established relationships with grocery chains.

The introduction of Kumato into the marketplace has spurred the interest of both consumers and plant breeders alike. Dulcinea has through a similar growing club concept introduced the Rosso Bruno tomato, and Black Velvet from California Hybrids through the work of Dr. Kanti Rawal marking the first competitor to Kumato available to the general public.

As the Kumato is a hybrid, planted seeds will not grow plants identical to the parent.

Re: Kumatoes

I haven't heard of them Loretta an interesting colour.
I prefer tomatoes to be a bit sharp in flavour so think they may be a bit sweet for my taste but I would like to try one.

Re: Kumatoes

Interesting but not such an appealing colour. Also I like to grow my own and those seeds won't be available to the public so I will stick with the normal red toms.

Re: Kumatoes

They do have a sort of strange colour, but they do taste very nice, we can also get them in the "mini" size. I might try and grow some seeds from one simply out of curiosity.