“The Heirloom Tomato is ‘In’. Does It Matter How It Tastes?”

Abstract

A resurgence of interest in more traditional, authentic and distinctive foods is reflected in the popularity of farmers’ markets, with the premise that locally grown produce is superior in flavor and other sensory and culturally valued characteristics to similar fare from the global marketplace. In this arena, heirloom tomatoes (heirlooms) are increasingly popular with their diverse appearances and tastes. But heirlooms are also idiosyncratic, with splits, cracks, irregular shapes and sizes, and uneven flavors and textures that create production obstacles for growers and selection challenges for shoppers. Through online surveys and telephone and in-person interviews with Massachusetts farmers’ market consumers and vendors, we explored the relative importance of organoleptic properties, particularly flavors and mouthfeel, that influence consumer selection and farmers’ production priorities for heirlooms. Results, reported as attribute rankings and related preference indicators, suggest that shoppers generally lacked familiarity with the names and flavor profiles of different heirloom varieties. Findings suggest that, despite premium product prices and shoppers’ declared importance of taste, they were often inclined to overlook flavor and textural qualities in deference to visual appeal and greater varietal selection, and the authors question how much taste really matters to their popularity and to the overall viability of these heirlooms.

Keywords:

• heirloom tomatoes
• produce preferences
• farmers’ markets
• taste
• sensory attributes
• organoleptic traits
• food qualities

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jeff Cole, Karen Light, and Martha Sweet from the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers’ Markets for their generous assistance with outreach to producers and shoppers at farmers’ markets statewide for surveys and interviews. They also express appreciation to David Webber of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and to Dave Dumaresq, Kate Stillman, Steve Violet and Jeff Cole for their input as members of the project’s advisory committee. Finally, thanks are offered to Brittany Peats and Rachel Bleiweiss-Sande who assisted with the interviews and initial surveys of shoppers.

Notes

1. Hybrid seed results from crossing two pure strains in a way that heightens certain traits from each. The first documented hybrid tomato, the Paragon, was introduced in 1870 and promoted as “the first perfectly and uniformly smooth tomato ever introduced to the American Public” (Bir 2014).

2. This is a large wooden mallet used to smash a variety of food items and other objects.

3. ”Local” as a geographic parameter can vary from a few miles to a few hundred, and can include hothouse heirlooms or other tomato varieties produced within these boundaries, using soil or hydroponic methods).