Germany: “Italian” Tomatoes Are Actually Chinese

Canned tomatoes sold in Germany as “Italian” are actually grown in China, writes the German newspaper Bild. It states that “most of the Chinese tomatoes are exported to Italy for processing into canned food, packaging in boxes, and subsequent export.” This process allows Italian producers to sell the product in Germany and many other countries under the label “Italian Canned Tomatoes.”

In recent years, China has become the world’s leading producer and exporter of tomatoes and concentrates. Germany is among the main destinations for such Chinese-Italian exports. Tomatoes, according to Bild, are “Germans’ favorite vegetable,” with per capita consumption of 30.5 kilograms per year. The German Federal Consumer Association has criticized the lack of transparency and called for the entire production chain – from China to Italy – to be indicated on the labels of canned tomatoes supplied to Germany.

Italy remains the second largest producer of tomatoes in the world (5.1 million tons) and controls 77% of global exports of these canned foods. This business is valued at 10 billion euros per year. Every month, up to 10,000 tons of tomato concentrate in barrels from China arrives at the port of Salerno, the center of all processing plants in the Campania region, after which the product is “reprocessed,” that is, mixed with tomatoes grown in Italy, and “sent to the tables of half the world.” Recently, Chinese producers have begun the process of “delocalizing” their crops by moving them to Africa, for example, to Ghana.

Last August, Italian agricultural associations Filiera Italia (Italian Food Supply Chains) and Coldiretti (National Confederation of Farmers) called for “an immediate ban on the import of tomato paste from China to protect serious Italian tomato producers from unfair competition from Chinese producers.” The requirement to block Chinese imports, as was done by the USA, England, and Canada, according to Italian associations, will help “avoid the situation when even in foreign markets, Chinese tomatoes are passed off as Italian, taking away space from those truly ‘made in Italy.’”