New Zealand tomatoes are flooding supermarket shelves and consumers are being urged to take advantage.

Pukekohe tomato grower and Horticulture New Zealand Young Grower of the Year winner, Ben Smith says it’s a fantastic sight to see the bountiful supply of local tomatoes on offer to consumers right now.

“It’s a sure sign summer is just around the corner and so kiwis will be switching to seasonal meals and recipes – and tomatoes are a mainstay of any summer diet.”

In recent years the range of tomatoes available to New Zealand consumers has grown considerably with cherry, low acid, strawberry, roma and vine-ripened tomatoes becoming increasingly popular. 

Chairman of TomatoesNZ, Wim Zwart says the plentiful supplies now available are the result of months of hard work and dedicated crop management by growers.

“It’s great to see Kiwis enjoying the fruits of our growers’ labour, there is no comparison to New Zealand produce.  I urge consumers when shopping to choose 100% New Zealand tomatoes, which are very reasonably priced at this time of year.”