LED technology to kill cold tomatoes.

Growing tomatoes in UK's cold autumn months is no easy feat, but the producers of the retailer Sainsbury's manage to carry out their mission with the help of technology and the application of LED lights.

In this way, these producers ensure that their tomatoes can be on the supermarket shelves at this time of year, with a stock that is kept until Christmas.

To have tomatoes during the colder months, growers use heated greenhouses and artificial lights to replicate the summer sun. To achieve this, They use a mixture of sodium and LED lights distributed among the fruit plants, which are intended to help in the development and ripening of tomatoes.

Sainsbury’s Product Technologist, Melisa Jones, explains that consumers want to buy high-quality British products. Added to this is that the general demand for local products is increasing.

"So, getting tomatoes is another example of how to grow more of our favorite fruits and vegetables close to home. By working with our growers we have been able to extend the British tomato season, which requires a lot of skill and investment from our producers ", added Jones.

On the other hand, Nigel Bartle, President of the Tomato Growers Association commented that demand for tomatoes from the UK created the need for a longer harvest.

“The producers have been working very hard, both with researchers and Sainsbury's, to extend the season and this year thanks to LED technology they will be able to produce British tomatoes fresher than ever ", indicated Bartle.

"This is the first time a large-scale commercial nursery has used this technology in the UK.", said the industry representative, who added that local growers will keep working to find new ways to offer more local tomatoes.

Thanks to the use of this technology, Sainsbury's has added a new and exclusive yellow cherry tomato –Sunglow- to its product offering., product sold under the ‘Taste the Difference’ range, which includes Vittoria tomato and a mix of yellow and red cherry tomatoes.

The only downside to using this system is that it can never compete with sun-ripened tomatoes., providing a quality and flavor unmatched by any technology.