Fresh Tomatoes
The failure of the Flavr Savr has been attributed to Calgene's inexperience in the business of growing and shipping tomatoes. The variety of tomato Calgene started with was considered by farmers to be inferior, and insufficient resources were allocated to traditional plant breeding. As a result, Calgene's fields produced only 25-50% as many boxes per acre compared to most growers. Of these, only half as many as anticipated were large enough to be sold as premium-priced. Furthermore, much of the initial harvest was damaged during processing and shipping because ripe tomatoes are unavoidably more delicate than unripened ones. Equipment designed for handling peaches was purchased, and specialized shipping crates were developed, both at great expense. These costs along with competition from a new conventionally bred Long Shelf Life (LSL) variety prevented the Flavr Savr from becoming profitable, and Calgene was eventually bought by Monsanto, which was primarily interested in Calgene's ventures into cotton and oilseed.
Read more about this topic: Flavr Savr
Famous quotes containing the words fresh and/or tomatoes:
“How bravely thou becom’st thy bed! fresh lily,
And whiter than the sheets!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Hunger makes you restless. You dream about food—not just any food, but perfect food, the best food, magical meals, famous and awe-inspiring, the one piece of meat, the exact taste of buttery corn, tomatoes so ripe they split and sweeten the air, beans so crisp they snap between the teeth, gravy like mother’s milk singing to your bloodstream.”
—Dorothy Allison (b. 1953)