'Kumato' is a trade name given to a patented

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

developed in Spain called 'Olmeca', which went by experimental number SX 387. 'Kumato' is a standard-size tomato cultivar weighing between 80 and 120 grams (2.8 and 4.2 ounces). It is firm, with a color ranging from a green to reddish brown or purple, varying in flavor from almost no flavor to sweeter than typical tomatoes due to a higher

fructose Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a Ketose, ketonic monosaccharide, simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galacto ...

content. As the 'Kumato' is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

, planted seeds will not necessarily grow plants identical to the parent. 'Kumato' is grown by specially selected growers in

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, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

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, Southern

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, and on the

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in the

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. Unlike the seeds of other tomato cultivars, 'Kumato' seeds cannot be purchased by the general public. The patent holder, the Swiss

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...

Syngenta Syngenta AG is a provider of agricultural science and technology, in particular seeds and pesticides with its management headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It is owned by ChemChina, a Chinese state-owned enterprise. Syngenta was founded in 2 ...

,Syngenta Agri-Business Global
/ref> has stated that it will never make 'Kumato' seeds available to the general public as the 'Kumato' tomato is grown as what is known as a "club variety," whereby Syngenta sells seeds only to licensed growers that go through a rigorous selection process, and participation is by invitation only. Syngenta maintains ownership of the cultivar throughout the entire value chain from breeding to marketing; selected growers must agree to follow specified cultivation protocols and pay fees for licenses per acre of greenhouse, costs of the seeds, and

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

based on the volume of tomatoes produced. Typically, Syngenta licenses only one large vertically integrated

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

winter producer per country that has well established relationships with grocery chains.

References

Tomato cultivars {{fruit-stub

See also

References