Amela wins the FRUIT LOGISTICA Innovation Award

The success story of the tomato continues unabated. This year’s FRUIT LOGISTICA Innovation Award (FLIA) goes to the Amela® tomato by Granada La Palma from Spain. It seems that the tomato is still very popular among trade visitors. At last year’s FRUIT LOGISTICA this aromatic fruit already managed to take first place.

Over two days the trade visitors at FRUIT LOGISTICA were able to decide who would win the most coveted international award for the fruit trade. Gaining around two-thirds of the votes cast, the Amela® tomato was the clear winner of the competition for the best innovation in the international fruit trade.

The Amela® tomato impresses with an intense aroma, a high Brix value and many nutrients and amino acids. The know-how for growing this plant, which tastes almost as sweet as a fruit, comes from two cultures. The idea originally came from Japan in 1996, and the variety is currently being cultivated in southern Spain using traditional methods.

“For a Spanish cooperative like La Palma, this recognition, having had 90 nominations, being nine nominees and having competed with multinational companies means a lot, especially, because the tomato situation is complicated worldwide. It is a great honor to receive such an important recognition at the most important trade show in the world. But it is not only about Amela. This price will also bring recognition to the tomato as a whole, which always had a high value in Europa as a product which exists in every household.”, says Pedro Ruiz, President Granada La Palma.

The silver FLIA went to Tevel Advanced Technologies from Israel for their flying autonomous robot, whose ability in flight to pinpoint individual berries from an optimum position and angle is controlled by AI algorithms and computer vision. This ensures crops can be harvested precisely when they are ripe and minimises the number of workers needed.

The bronze FLIA went to the winners of the 2020 competition, Syngenta Seeds from the Netherlands. In 2012, two employees discovered a cauliflower with side shoots. After years of testing, breeding and tasting, the company introduced istem® 2021 to the market in the UK. The stalks are very tender and taste nutty and sweet, so that the cauliflower can be eaten raw or cooked.