Give the nation’s gardeners a chance to grow the world’s largest tomato, offer a £6,000 prize for their efforts, grab a few headlines, and the sales should speak for themselves.
That was Van Meuwen’s plan behind the launch of Gigantomo, a new variety capable of producing whopping tomatoes up to 3lb in weight with little specialist care.
However, unprecedented demand following national news coverage saw initial seed stocks sell out within 36 hours of launch, forcing the horticultural mail order specialist to reopen its production line and fill 10,000 more packets to ensure unbroken supply through the spring sowing season.
Van Meuwen General Manager Chris Wright said: "We initially launched 500 packets of Gigantomo seeds.
"This may not sound like a vast number but in the world of horticulture it's an impressive feat - last year our best selling tomato 'Tomazing' picked up 507 sales for the whole of the year.
"We couldn't believe it when our entire stock of Gigantomo packets sold within 36 hours of the variety being launched.
"We knew we were on to a winner when we negotiated the exclusive UK supply of Gigantomo seeds and plants, but initial interest and sales have exceeded all expectations.
"It's a bold jump up to 10,000 packets but based on the speed of initial customer uptake and the level of web traffic we have received for Gigantomo seeds it may be that even this won't be enough to meet demand.
"It seems it's not just our customers that can expect big things from this tasty giant tomato in 2015.
The new disease-resistant variety is the result of almost two decades of research and development by breeders in the UK and the US.
Simon Crawford, one of the UK's leading plant breeders, was called in five years ago to finish the work of late American grower Paul Thomas, who spent 15 years trying to breed the huge tomato.
Gigantomo, can reach over 6ft tall, producing fruits up to 10 inches wide and as heavy as 3lbs. It was first launched in the US last year as SteakHouse. Van Meuwen is the sole UK supplierbut EU chiefs ruled the name unacceptable so it was changed to Gigantomo.
Gardeners lucky enough to get hold of the variety for 2015 can take the fruits of their harvest to the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show (18-20 September) and take part in the National Gigantomo Championships. Van Meuwen is offering a top prize of £1,000 for the heaviest fruit, with a further £5,000 jackpot up for grabs ifit also breaks the world record of 7lbs 12oz.
Seeds (6 for £3.99) or order plug plants (5 for £14.99) can be bought at www.vanmeuwen.com/tomato-gigantomo or call 0844 557 1850.
