Azura puts taste first, testing 350 varieties

“We strive to offer our clients an integrated service, from production to packaging”, explains Odile Lavail, marketing and communication manager for Azura Group. “Recently we have concentrated on research. We are trying to find the tomato varieties with the best taste.” For this reason, Azura is cultivating about 350 tomato varieties in its greenhouse. Next year, it will choose the best 40 varieties from them and, finally, just 1-2 will be selected for further production. “There are many evaluation criteria – such as ease of production, high plant yield, pest and disease resistance – but delicious taste remains dominant,” said Lavail. “Therefore, we often organize tastings for consumers.” Azura is a French-Moroccan group of companies and one of the largest private producers of tomatoes in the world, with 68 farms and nearly 900 ha of agricultural land. It grows tomatoes and other produce in Morocco and exports them to France and other countries. “We are satisfied with our penetration in European markets and not expanding it but instead focusing on providing the best service,” Lavail said. “That’s our strategic target at the moment.”
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