Tomato Seeds Market, By Product Type (Hybrid Tomato Seeds and Open Pollinated/Heirloom Tomato Seeds), By Plant Growth Habit (Determinate & Semi-determinate and Indeterminate), and By Region (North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa)
Increasing consumer awareness regarding health benefits of tomato seeds: Owing to an increasing consumer awareness regarding health benefits of tomato seeds. Major companies around the world are focused on investing on research and development of new varieties of tomato seeds and on conducting different breeding programs for the new varieties of tomato seeds. This in turn, is expected to boost the market growth over the forecast period.
According to MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) journal, in March 2022, Proteins in tomato seeds range from 22.2% to 40% on a dry weight basis. In terms of total amino acids, tomato seeds have high glutamic acid and aspartic acid contents. These amino acids are known as umami taste amino acids, suggesting the use of tomato seeds for developing products rich in umami flavors for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Studies have also shown that arginine, threonine, lysine, and leucine are the predominant essential amino acids present in tomato seeds.
Restraint:
High price of seeds used for greenhouse-produced tomatoes: The price of seeds used for greenhouse-produced tomatoes is comparatively higher than the cost of seeds used in natural environment. Therefore, tomato seed producers have to bear high costs for purchasing tomato seeds suitable for production in greenhouses, which is expected to hamper the market growth.
For instance, on 6 March 2023, Kraft Heinz is the latest global consumer packaged goods group to report a strong double-digit jump in the fourth quarter of 2022. However, the U.S.-based supplier forecast much slower growth and softer profits in 2023 as it remained under pressure from higher costs. The Kraft Heinz company said it would lean further on pricing and efficiencies to ease pressure on margins. Tomato costs are likely to be a particular source of concern for Heinz with prices increasingly volatile in the past two years. In November 2022, prices of consumer packaged goods in Europe were up 14% year on year, according to EU Commission data, well above the five-year average.