Tomato Facts

Tomato Varieties

There are five different types of tomato available in shops:

Classic tomatoes. These are the familiar, round variety and are the most popular type of tomato. They are good for salads, grilling, baking or frying and used as a cooking ingredient for soups and sauces.
Cherry and cocktail tomatoes. These are much smaller than the traditional classic tomato. Cherry tomatoes are the smallest and cocktail tomatoes slightly larger. Both are very sweet and have a concentrated flavour. Most cherry tomatoes are red, but golden, orange and yellow varieties are also available. Cherry tomatoes are delicious eaten whole and raw, or cooked. Cocktail tomatoes can be halved for salads, or skewered whole for grilling. Currently almost all cocktail varieties are sold 'on the vine'.
Plum and baby plum tomatoes. These have a distinctive oval shape. Their flesh is firm and they have less liquid in the centre. They are the natural choice for pizzas and pasta dishes and their fleshy texture makes them ideal for the barbecue. The smallest, baby plum types are sometimes called miniplum and slightly larger ones midiplum.
Beef tomatoes. These are larger than the traditional round tomato. Their size and shape make them excellent for stuffing and baking whole. There is a range of beef tomatoes available, varying in their shape and texture.
Vine or Truss tomatoes. These may be of any of the types mentioned above but are marketed still attached to the fruiting stem.

The description vine tomatoes may be confused with the term vine-ripened tomatoes. The latter refers to any tomatoes which are picked when ripe, i.e. they ripen on the plant. This gives optimum flavour, but makes the fruit more perishable. All British tomatoes are vine-ripened as they have only a short distance to travel to market. Imported tomatoes are usually picked less ripe, to withstand the lengthy journey here by road or sea and firmer, long-life varieties are commonly used.

Because vine tomatoes have to be handled very carefully to avoid damage, such as dislodging fruits from the stem, they can also be picked very ripe and have especially good flavour. It is the green parts which provide that distinctive tomato aroma, rather than the fruits themselves. Additionally they provide a very good indication of the freshness of the fruit since the calyx, the green spiky bit to which the fruit is attached, deteriorates quickly after harvesting. So British vine tomatoes are a good product and not just a fashion, as cynics would have us believe.

The British production area of these varieties in 2006 is:

Classic	50%
Cherry	14%
Cocktail	14%
Plum (baby plum, midi plum and large plum)	19%
Beef	2%

Of these, 58% are harvested and marketed 'loose' and 42% on the vine. Organic tomatoes account for 7% of the British commercial crop area.

There are many sub-varieties available and new introductions to the British market continue to be made in response to consumer demand.