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I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

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Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#11

Post by davidhunter »

martythemaniak wrote: post #6
ModernMech wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I grew some tomatoes on my balcony this summer, and the way they taste compared to what I would buy at the store you would think they are completely different fruits. I would pay maybe 30% more for a sandwich with fresh tomatoes as opposed to the.... red slime that usually come on them.

I've considered a "startup" in this space before. Take all the equipment, knowhow and enthusiasm of the cannabis industry and apply it to tomatoes. Grow them next to customers, under lights with highly controlled conditions and an obsessive focus on flavour. Guarantee less than 24hrs picked-to-delivered. My research (napkin math) suggested that it would be doable at $8-10/lb, which is certainly high, but probably low…

Exactly what we're doing (optimal.ag). Interestingly, the cannabis industry has taken all the equipment, knowhow and enthusiasm of the (Dutch) tomato industry and applied it to cannabis - not the other way around.

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#12

Post by nhoughto »

JacobDotVI wrote: post #2

I wonder if they can charge more for the non-cold-chain tomatoes due to better flavor: >Cold storage is widely used to extend shelf-life of agriculture products. For tomato, this handling results in reduced flavor quality. Our work provides major insights into the effects of chilling on consumer liking, the flavor metabolome and transcriptome, as well as DNA methylation status. from: https://www.pnas.org/content/113/…

and for something slightly more accessible and with photos =) on the same topic:

https://www.seriouseats.com/why-you-should-refrigerate-tomat...

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#14

Post by eutectic »

davidhunter wrote: post #9

We (Optimal Agriculture) have built an autonomous growing system for high-tech greenhouses and have achieved 'superhuman' performance in a recent tomato trial. We collect a bunch of sensory data about the crop and growing environment, run cloud-based optimisation, and then control the actuators of the greenhouse autonomously (lighting, screening, heating, cooling, irrigation, etc). We are turning $100M greenhouse fac…

How do you model the crop response to environmental factors? Did you have to run experiments?

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#15

Post by martythemaniak »

davidhunter wrote: post #11
martythemaniak wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've considered a "startup" in this space before. Take all the equipment, knowhow and enthusiasm of the cannabis industry and apply it to tomatoes. Grow them next to customers, under lights with highly controlled conditions and an obsessive focus on flavour. Guarantee less than 24hrs picked-to-delivered. My research (napkin math) suggested that it would be doable at $8-10/lb, which is certainly high, but probably low…

Exactly what we're doing (optimal.ag). Interestingly, the cannabis industry has taken all the equipment, knowhow and enthusiasm of the (Dutch) tomato industry and applied it to cannabis - not the other way around.

First time I flew into Amsterdam it was dusk and I was mesmerized by the seemingly endless fields of greenhouses growing weed. Only years later (after telling everyone about it) did I learn they were actually growing produce :D

Dutch tomatoes have a reputation for being bland ("water bombs"), is making more flavourfull ones just product focus? Like picking the right varietal, picking them at the right time, delivering quickly, etc?

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#16

Post by RobRivera »

davidhunter wrote: post #9

We (Optimal Agriculture) have built an autonomous growing system for high-tech greenhouses and have achieved 'superhuman' performance in a recent tomato trial. We collect a bunch of sensory data about the crop and growing environment, run cloud-based optimisation, and then control the actuators of the greenhouse autonomously (lighting, screening, heating, cooling, irrigation, etc). We are turning $100M greenhouse fac…

cloud based optimization is superior to on organic compute optimization how?

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#17

Post by jelliclesfarm »

Growing and transporting tomatoes in Africa is a whole diff ball game than in other parts of the world. Farming is just a tiny slice of Ag. Supply chain is the biggest team player.

Also: processing tomatoes and tomatoes eaten out of the hand are two diff markets. Everything from genetics to harvest to inputs is different.

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#19

Post by [deleted] »

davidhunter wrote: post #11
martythemaniak wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've considered a "startup" in this space before. Take all the equipment, knowhow and enthusiasm of the cannabis industry and apply it to tomatoes. Grow them next to customers, under lights with highly controlled conditions and an obsessive focus on flavour. Guarantee less than 24hrs picked-to-delivered. My research (napkin math) suggested that it would be doable at $8-10/lb, which is certainly high, but probably low…

Exactly what we're doing (optimal.ag). Interestingly, the cannabis industry has taken all the equipment, knowhow and enthusiasm of the (Dutch) tomato industry and applied it to cannabis - not the other way around.

[deleted]

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#20

Post by davidhunter »

martythemaniak wrote: post #15
davidhunter wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly what we're doing (optimal.ag). Interestingly, the cannabis industry has taken all the equipment, knowhow and enthusiasm of the (Dutch) tomato industry and applied it to cannabis - not the other way around.

First time I flew into Amsterdam it was dusk and I was mesmerized by the seemingly endless fields of greenhouses growing weed. Only years later (after telling everyone about it) did I learn they were actually growing produce :D Dutch tomatoes have a reputation for being bland ("water bombs"), is making more flavourfull ones just product focus? Like picking the right varietal, picking them at the right time, deliverin…

>First time I flew into Amsterdam it was dusk and I was mesmerized by the seemingly endless fields of greenhouses growing weed. Only years later (after telling everyone about it) did I learn they were actually growing produce :D

Lol - yeah the production of cannabis is not yet legalised in The Netherlands.

This is a great article on the Dutch greenhouse industry (unfortunately behind paywall): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/holland-...

>Dutch tomatoes have a reputation for being bland ("water bombs"), is making more flavourfull ones just product focus? Like picking the right varietal, picking them at the right time, delivering quickly, etc?

I've heard this before too. Maybe this was a thing at one point in history but it's not true any more. If you go into a supermarket today in Europe then all the tomatoes on offer will have been grown in greenhouses. The low-end stuff will have been grown in Spanish/Moroccan low-tech greenhouses (plastic tunnels). The higher-end stuff will have been grown in Dutch glasshouses.

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