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News

Tunisia: the sector promotes dried tomatoes

10/05/2021 - François-Xavier Branthôme - Lire en français

Exports have almost doubled in five years

Ranked tenth in the world among tomato processing countries, with more than 1.2 million tonnes grown in 2020, Tunisia's industry is continuing its diversification effort thanks to processing techniques that have been modernized over time, allowing it to rethink its strategic position in the country's agricultural development policy, in particular by enhancing its production for the dried tomato sector.

Renowned for their nutritional and gastronomic properties, dried tomatoes, which were once the subject of great interest from producers and consumers, are currently regaining their place in Tunisian cuisine. Now, nearly 6% of the Tunisian tomato crop is intended for drying, i.e. around 70,000 tonnes in 2020.

According to the Tunisian press, most of the dried tomatoes produced in Tunisia are exported. Last year almost 90% of the production was exported, for a value of TND 40 million (EUR 12.6 million, USD 14.3 million), to ten destinations, among which Italy holds by far the top place with almost 80% of the total volume.
Over the past five years, these exports have increased from 4,000 tonnes in 2015 to nearly 7,000 tonnes in 2020, recording an increase of 50%. This is why Tunisian dried tomatoes are now being promoted, developed and increasingly marketed thanks to a specific program, both on the local market and abroad.

As such, the GICA (Groupement des Industries de Conserves Alimentaires = conglomerate of canned food industries), under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining, which is in charge of valuing and promoting the marketing of dried tomatoes, intends to organize a campaign to promote the sector's products with consumers. The aim of this program is to promote their different uses as well as their health benefits in the context of a specific project – PAMPAT 2 (Project for enhancing the market access of agricultural food produce and traditional products) – which is being implemented in Tunisia by the UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), in close collaboration with the various relevant Tunisian ministries.

The Cap-Bon region hosts almost half of the production
Cultivated on more than 4.8 million hectares around the world, tomatoes are the 2nd most consumed vegetable worldwide, after potatoes. Tomato cultivation was introduced to Tunisia during the reign of Othman Bey (around 1600) by the first Andalusians, who came to settle in Cap Bon and the Medjerda. Until very recently, tomato cultivation – generally in small home gardens with average yields – had retained its traditional character in some regions of Tunisia.

Nowadays, the cultivation of processing tomatoes occupies a strategic position in the agricultural development policy of the country. The sector now mobilizes more than 10,000 farmers, with a total area that exceeded 16,000 hectares in 2020, for an estimated production of 1.2 million mT, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The Tunisian press estimates that this industrial sector contributes to strengthening the country's industry overall, and points out that in 2020, 965,000 tonnes were intended for processing into double-concentrated paste and other canned tomato products, thus exceeding the previous record – 930 000 mT – recorded in 2015.

Thanks to favorable growing conditions (temperature, rainfall, soil quality, etc.), the Cap-Bon is the main region for Tunisia's processing tomato production (37% in 2020). Other important production areas are located in the regions of Sidi Bouzid, Béja, Jendouba, Manouba, Gafsa, Kairouan and Zaghouan.

Dried tomatoes are obtained by simply drying fresh tomatoes with salt, either in the sun or in an oven. It takes 10 to 12 kg of fresh tomatoes to make 1 kg of sundried tomatoes. Several varieties, generally elongated and particularly suitable in terms of shape, color or soluble solids content are available and common in Tunisia.
The production of tomatoes intended for drying is carried out either by manufacturers who proceed with the drying processes themselves, or by farmers who produce on demand, in the context of an agreement with processors, and rent their drying stations.

Local sources point out that several operators have embarked on the development of dried tomatoes, which represent a high added-value niche that allows products to be positioned in new growth markets where demand is increasing, particularly on the British, French and German markets.

An industry that is mainly focused on exports
The dried tomato sector, with around twenty structured companies and a large number of informal operators, is experiencing a new boom with the increase in demand for traditional local products. Currently, only 20% of national production is intended for the local market.
But the sector must continue to be demanding in terms of quality, diversification and marketing. Diagnostic workshops, organized in February 2020 in Tunis by the PAMPAT project (in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and the GICA) involving the dried tomato sector and in the presence of about sixty operators, showed that the industry ranks 3rd among the most important production sectors of the Tunisian canned food industry, after double-concentrated tomato paste and harissa.

Today, the sector is essentially export-oriented, which explains its dependence on demand and supply from competing countries and prices set by importers. The current objective is to develop finished products and position Tunisia as a producer of high quality dried tomato preparations.

Source: tunisie.co

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