POMODORINO D’ORO: A VIRTUOUS CYCLE
For twenty-five years, we have been rewarding quality
Launched in 2000, the Pomodorino d’Oro (Golden Tomato) is an economic incentive that we award to our best farmers each year to recognise the quality of the tomatoes they grow: 100% Italian products, lovingly looked after from seed to fruit.
Over the past 25 years, we’ve awarded prizes to more than 800 farmers. The award is an incentive for our suppliers to continuously improve their products and invest in the development of new cultivation, harvesting, and transportation methods. In this way, we’ve created a virtuous cycle which ultimately ensures that we bring our consumers a product distinguished by its superior quality and unique flavour.
OUR COMMITMENT TO QUALITY
Pomodorino d’Oro embodies the responsible choices and tangible action we adopt every day. These choices involve every single level of the supply chain – and their aim is to get the best out of local areas while ensuring respect for the land and local people. Our objective is to build an ongoing, collaborative relationship with farmers in order to continuously improve our products. Pomodorino d’Oro is the most tangible symbol of our commitment – and commitment is the measure of quality at Mutti.
The 2024 winners
25rd edition
The Pomodorino d’Oro award reflects one of our fundamental principles: the idea that each type of tomato needs a specific type of soil. That’s why – each year – we honour over 60 farmers from Northern and Southern Italy, with separate awards for three tomato varieties typical of each region. Discover the three winners from this edition!
The values behind the Pomodorino d’Oro award
CARE
Checks and careful selection in the fields
Our farmers share our meticulous approach and – as such – they only select the best tomatoes when it’s harvesting time, taking ripeness, colour, consistency, freshness and sweetness into account. This is the only way to ensure that tomatoes pass the quality control process when they arrive at our sites. The prize is awarded based on an automatic analysis carried out when the tomatoes arrive at the factory. Sweetness, nutritional values and the degree of ripeness are among the criteria.
For us, care is all about guaranteeing the highest quality standards while ensuring respect for the environment and human health. We operate in accordance with the Integrated Production Specifications, which means we look to reduce our water and energy consumption in agricultural production without compromising on tomato quality. Meanwhile, we’re committed to maintaining traceability throughout the supply chain, right through to the finished product.
RESPECT
A higher price for a better tomato
We pay our farmers above-market-average prices for better tomatoes, thus strengthening relationships with our suppliers and supporting their growth. That, for us, is what respect is all about.
Over the years, we’ve contributed to the development of Mechanical Harvesting, which is now used for all harvests in the fields of our farmers in Northern and Southern Italy. And our mandatory organisational model requires our farmers to join us in adhering to stringent ethical and social requirements.
COLLABORATION
Quality: a team effort
Collaboration with our farmers is based on mutual trust and support. It’s a transparent relationship featuring fair contractual agreements designed to strengthen farmers.
Through the Mutti Agricultural Service, we share our knowledge with farmers and provide them with access to the best tech platforms. This means they are able to adopt the most innovative cultivation techniques, boost their own expertise and ensure that the products that end up in the kitchens of our consumers meet the highest possible quality standards. We are all working towards the same objective: offering families an exceptional product that represents our culinary identity and the essence of Mediterranean gastronomy.
PRIDE
From the field to your kitchen
Every load of tomatoes that arrives at our sites is a source of huge satisfaction for the farmers that grow them. It means that their tomatoes have passed our stringent checks, first and foremost. It’s the culmination of a year-long effort.
But it’s also a source of satisfaction for us at Mutti, because it means that we’ve made a contribution to generating value at every stage of the supply chain, guaranteeing a product which doesn’t just taste good, but is also the result of ethical choices designed to ensure respect for people – farmers and consumers alike.
It’s the same sense of gratification we feel knowing that we’ve all done our bit to bring something to the dinner table with a flavour like no other – something that will put a smile on the faces of the people we love.