Largest local tomato producers
The largest local tomato producers are GreenCoop (annual sales of €10.5m), Ovozela (€5m) and Farma Babindol (€2m). GreenCoop has invested €35m into its greenhouses spreading on 23 ha heated by geothermal wells, of which €6m were from EU funds. It employs 350. Farma Babindol (Peter Huňor) has recently completed a new 5 ha greenhouse near Levice for €15m. It uses more expensive natural gas to heat its greenhouses. GreenCoop’s Zsolt Bindics says that new investors from the energy and waste sector plan to enter tomato production. He adds, though, that the local market is already saturated and a price war is looming. GreenCoop is therefore investing €8m into a 5 ha greenhouse in Hungary.
