Don't like tomatoes? You probably haven't tried the right one yet

Deanna Hurstfield didn't know she liked tomatoes until she was in her twenties.

"I thought that they were messy,"saidHurstfield."To me, they didn't have a lot of flavour."

That changed when a friend introduced her to a fresh garden tomato served up with a bit of salt and pepper.

"It was like, 'oh, now I understand why people like tomatoes,'" she said.

From that early dislike of tomatoes, Hurstfield has made a near-complete turnaround. She now organizes the annual Tomato Festival at the Kamloops Farmers Market, about 250 kilometres northeast ofVancouver.

WATCH | Some top tips for planting tomatoes:

Get gardening with these top tips for planting tomatoes

4 months ago

Duration 2:03

For many, spring signals the time of year to start working on your backyard garden. CBC's Jenifer Norwell caught up with the Tkemlps te Secwpemc Food Sovereignty Team to learn a little bit more about how to properly prepare and plant tomatoes.

At the festival,growers entertomatoes in a competition for the People's Choice Award, where people get the chance to pick their favourite out of the vast diversitynow available.

The widening tomato selection at the local farmers market is part of a much broader movement, in whichproducers all over the world are responding to consumer demandfor more options beyond the standardred grocery store tomato.

With about 19,000 different tomatotypes listed by the group, Local Food Connect, there's no shortage ofchoice.

The tomato is the most popular veggie in the world, according toa 2020 report by Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. In 2017, about182 million tonnes of tomatoes were grown globally, representing 17 per cent of all the veggies. The next most popular vegetable, onions, came in at nineper cent.

While technically a fruit, the tomato is often considered a vegetable because of the ways it's used in cooking.

One of the groups working to developnew varietiesof tomatoesisthe Ontario-basedVineland Research and Innovation Centre. The non-profit also looks into the history and trends of tomato growingin Canada.

According to Travis Banks, director of crop enhancement and adaptation atVineland,commercial growers historically focusedon produce that shipped well. Tomato varietieswere selected for their abilityto last longer in a truck and on the shelf.

"Unfortunately, we didn't realize at the timethat some of those characteristics were to the detriment of flavour," said Banks.

Professional tomato tasters

Vineland has created 34 tomato varietiesthrough itsresearch and development. The group's sensory panel is a big part of thatwork.

The panel includes so-calledsuper tasters, often foodies with the ability to pick out distinctflavours.

Food For Thought: Tastier Tomato

6 years ago

Duration 1:47

Tomatoes have been selected for size and speed of growth. In that process though, they have lost their taste. This scientist has devoted his work to creating the "perfect tomato", full of flavour.

The sensory panel identifies whether a tomato is sweet, acidic, bitter, smoky or has umami notes, but they are not asked whether they like the tomato or not that's left to consumers.

"Not everybody wants the same thing," said Amy Bowen, Vineland's director of consumer, sensory and market insights.

'Bask in their beauty'

Back in Kamloops, B.C.,chef and avid home gardener Jarrod Omichinskigets excited about the growing tomato selection.

"I just look at how many different shapes and colours and sizes and I just really bask in their beauty,"said Omichinski.

He said he's grown almost every colour of tomato you can think of, including white tomatoes that have more of a melon-liketaste and green ones with bright acidic flavours.

'Never satisfied'

All of the work done by researchers atplaces like Vineland is resulting in more choice for gardeners like Omichinski and shoppers and that trend isn't slowing down.

Bowen says we've moved from a world with just a handful of wateryred tomatoes to an array of colours at the grocery store.

"[Consumers] know the tomato is diverse. They can use it in so many different ways, so they're not satisfied with a one tomato fits all," she said.

Bowen's own search for different tomatoes to sample will continue.

"I'm always looking for what's out there," she said. "I'm never satisfied with just one."