The company is stepping up investment in more climate-resilient tomato production, following a season marked by extreme weather across Central Europe. To identify the varieties best suited to increasingly unstable conditions, the company conducted trials this year on 100 tomato cultivars.
A volatile 2025 season
The 2025 campaign highlighted the growing variability facing European growers: an exceptionally mild period from February to April sped up plant development, followed by May frosts that damaged crops. A particularly rainy July further disrupted the growing cycle. Against this backdrop, EU tomato output is expected to decline, with a projected 2.6% decrease, mainly driven by lower volumes in the processing segment.
Strong performance in Pudliszki despite adverse conditions
Despite a challenging season, yields at the Pudliszki processing hub were only slightly below the previous year’s levels. More importantly, fruit quality exceeded expectations, with stronger extract parameters. The company attributes this performance to the long-term, gradual adoption of regenerative practices—improving soil health, using organic inputs, and reducing tillage—combined with targeted technological upgrades.
The Pudliszki site works with around 150 local growers and sources 90% of its vegetables within a 30-kilometre radius, reinforcing a local, short-supply model.
Field research and prevention tools
To better cope with climate extremes, Kraft Heinz is expanding research efforts and strengthening infrastructure. The company has installed advanced weather stations and deployed predictive models to anticipate disease pressure, optimise crop protection programmes, and reduce losses.
Global data to speed up local adaptation
The Polish trials also draw on agronomic data collected worldwide in producing regions facing comparable climate risks, notably Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, and the United States. The goal is to rapidly transfer proven strategies into local cropping systems.
A strategy centred on regenerative agriculture
Over the longer term, the company’s roadmap is built around regenerative agriculture: crop rotations, organic fertilisation, reduced or no-till practices, and irrigation upgrades to improve soil water retention and reduce vulnerability to drought and erosion.