Tomato lovers can buy Belgian all year

13 January 2004

BRUSSELS – Patriotic Belgian shoppers will from now on be able to buy home-grown tomatoes all year round, thanks to a new breakthrough in greenhouse technology.

Researchers in Kontich, near Antwerp, have perfected a new technique that allows growers to keep harvesting tomatoes in Belgium for twelve months a year.

On Monday a crop of juicy red delights planted in a special 8,000 square metre greenhouse in Kontich in mid-October went on sale at the market in Malines, north of Brussels.

It is not clear whether the new tomatoes will be a commercial success however. In winter they will almost certainly cost more than imported varieties and it remains to be seen whether cash-conscious shoppers will be willing to pay that little bit extra for the prestigious made in Belgium label.

Subject: Belgian news