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SALSA Visits Tomato Farm to Recover Tomato-Processing By-products
SALSA Visits Tomato Farm to Recover Tomato-Processing By-products
On 17 September 2026, members of the UNITO team involved in the SALSA project visited the Tomato Farm S.p.A. production facility in Pozzolo Formigaro, in the province of Alessandria. During the visit, the team collected several by-products generated by industrial tomato processing. These materials will be used in the research and experimental activities planned within the project.
The SALSA team was welcomed and accompanied by Dr Annalisa Micone, who assisted the participants throughout the visit and supported the organisation of the sampling activities. Her assistance allowed the team to gain a better understanding of the different stages of the production process and the characteristics of the recovered materials.
The visit provided an opportunity to observe the facility’s operations directly and understand the origin of the by-products that SALSA aims to study and valorise.
From Fresh Tomatoes to Processed Products
Founded in 2006, Tomato Farm is an agri-food company specialising in the production of semi-finished tomato products for the food industry, foodservice and HoReCa sectors.
The facility processes more than 100,000 tonnes of fresh tomatoes each year. The tomatoes are grown entirely in Italy and come mainly from farms located near the facility. The proximity of the fields allows the raw material to be processed within a few hours of harvesting.
The facility has three production lines dedicated respectively to:
tomato concentrate, purée and semi-concentrate;
diced tomato pulp;
fine tomato pulp.
Together, the production lines can process more than 80,000 kilograms of fresh tomatoes per hour. The production cycle is automated and monitored from a control room equipped with digital systems.
Before processing, each load is inspected to assess the quality, health status and ripeness of the tomatoes. Raw materials that meet the quality specifications agreed with the producer organisations are accepted for processing.
To produce tomato purée and concentrate, the tomatoes first undergo initial sorting and washing, followed by visual inspection, crushing and an initial heat treatment for enzyme inactivation. The pulping machines then separate the juice from the skins and seeds. Evaporators subsequently remove water from the tomatoes until the required concentration is reached.
On the production lines for fine and diced tomato pulp, the tomatoes undergo initial sorting and washing before being inspected using optical sorting machines, visual selection systems and grading equipment. They are then peeled, inspected again and processed into fine or diced pulp. The final products are sterilised and packaged under aseptic conditions.
Turning By-products into New Resources
Tomato processing generates organic materials such as skins, seeds and other plant residues. Although separated from the main product, these materials contain components that could be recovered and used in new agricultural applications.
The collection carried out on 17 September therefore forms an operational part of SALSA’s activities. The materials collected from the facility will be analysed and characterised by the project partners to study their composition, properties and potential treatment methods.
SALSA will assess whether tomato-processing by-products can be converted into safe and effective solutions for agriculture. Their recovery could help reduce the amount of residual material requiring management and create new value within the same agri-food supply chain.
From Research to Industrial Practice
The visit involved more than sample collection. Understanding exactly where by-products are generated within the process is necessary for developing recovery methods that are compatible with existing industrial operations.
Collaboration with a processing company also allows the project to consider practical factors such as production seasonality, material availability, variations in composition and the conditions required for collection, storage and transport.
These factors will be important when assessing whether the solutions developed by SALSA can be applied beyond the laboratory and potentially integrated into production processes across the supply chain.
Tomato Farm oversees production from the selection of tomato varieties through cultivation and harvesting to delivery at the processing facility. This connection between agriculture and industrial processing provides SALSA with a practical setting in which to study the entire tomato production cycle.
The materials collected during the visit will now be used in subsequent experimental activities. Through dedicated analyses and trials, SALSA will investigate how tomato-processing by-products can be converted into new resources for a more circular agriculture that uses raw materials more efficiently.
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