The Agro-Food Technological Center of Extremadura (CTAEX) has produced the documentary "Cooperate to Innovate. The History of the Extremaduran Tomato," a 59-minute film that traverses, through its protagonists, the last 75 years of transformation of the tomato sector in the region.
The work is launched in the final phase of the tomato campaign for industry and can be viewed in full on the CTAEX YouTube channel. Its objective is to bring the public closer to the trajectory of one of the agro-industrial pillars of Extremadura and to contextualize the economic and social relevance of this crop.
The premiere coincides with a few months in which thousands of hectares, farmers, cooperatives, OPFH, and industries work together in a campaign that, year after year, concentrates an essential part of the agro-industrial activity of Extremadura. Only in 2025, the region reached a production of 1.684 billion kilos of tomatoes for industry, cultivated on more than 20,200 hectares, which accounted for 70.16 percent of the national total.
The narrative begins in the mid-20th century, with the first processing factories, and reviews the impact of the Badajoz Plan, the extension of irrigation, the increase in industrial capacity, the rise of cooperativism and producer organizations, and later, the entry of research, technology, and new formulas for collaboration between the field and industry.
In 1951, a tomato processing plant was already operating in Montijo, and in 1975, 19 canneries were functioning within the framework of the Badajoz Plan, with a capacity exceeding 390,000 tons. From there, the documentary weaves together the milestones that have shaped the current productive model of Extremadura.
The film is constructed from the testimonies of those who have experienced this evolution firsthand. Farmers, cooperators, entrepreneurs, technicians, and researchers recount from their own experience how the value chain of tomatoes in Extremadura was articulated.
Among the participants are Manuel Vázquez Gimón, founder of the CONESA Group; Domingo Fernández Sánchez, founder of Acopaex, Tomates del Guadiana, and Apis; Juan Puerto Frías, founder of TOMALIA; and Carmen Moreno Vargas, director of Agro-Food Cooperatives Extremadura.
Fernando Sanromán Plaza also intervenes, responsible for Agricultural Production of AGRAZ, of the CONESA Group, and president of the Tomato Table at the time of the recording, who details the role of this body in the coordination between production and industry, contracting, quality, and the reception of the raw material.
Alongside them participate Eduardo José Fernández López, director of APIS, José María Monteagudo Cebrián, first director of ACOREX; José María Sánchez Quirós, linked to CASAT, Ramón de Arcos Nieto, connected to ACOREX, of which he was deputy director, Carmen González Ramos, Lorena Zajara Serrano, Mª José Riballo Ruiz-Roso, Rubén Sánchez Herrero, and José Luis Llerena Ruiz, who provide the perspective of research and technological transfer.
The documentary dedicates a prominent space to the work that CTAEX has been doing for 25 years in support of the entire tomato chain. In the agronomic field, the center researches varieties and patterns, irrigation, nutrition, plant health, biostimulation, adaptation to climate change, precision agriculture, digitalization, productivity, and sustainability.
In the industrial part, its work focuses on the development of new products and formulations, process optimization, the valorization of by-products, circular economy, energy efficiency, packaging, and extending shelf life.
This activity is complemented by laboratory work in physicochemical analysis, microbiology, food safety, traceability, authenticity, and quality control, in addition to technical support to the Tomato Table through common protocols, self-control systems, and quality supervision in the reception of the tomato.
The film also addresses the challenges that will condition the future competitiveness of the sector: water management, climate change, productivity, costs, sustainability, digitalization, energy efficiency, logistics, secondary transformation, and generating greater added value in Extremadura.
The film is produced by CTAEX and the Cultural Association Mórrimer and directed by Ángel Hernández García, Pedro Jesús Martín Millán, and José Luis Llerena Ruiz. With its open dissemination, CTAEX aims to pay tribute to the generations that have built one of the great agro-industrial chains of the region and share this story with society at a time when the tomato once again fills fields, roads, and Extremaduran industries.