Everything you wanted to know about the Raf tomato.
About us
We have actually been studying the idea of selling our products directly to consumers for several years.
Currently, large marketers prefer Raf hybrid tomatoes that have higher production and are more durable over time, obtaining a higher profit margin.
At pepeRaf we provide you with a fair platform so you can buy the authentic Raf tomato.
pepeRaf is a family of farmers who grow, package and distribute only our product.
Most online platforms selling Raf tomatoes are traders or intermediaries who buy tomatoes at low cost to resell them online. In addition, we only grow the certified original Raf, which is a natural tomato (not a hybrid).
And all this gives us advantages:
- Traceability: We only sell our product while supplies last, so you will find unique homogeneity.
- Quality: Our product is not only natural, but we also harvest and ship it on the same day, without intermediaries, without cooperatives or warehouses that delay shipping, without cold storage that devalues its natural ripening process...
- Experience: We have been growing this product for over 50 years.
- Closeness: We are a family, and we treat our clients as such.
Ourselves. Besides being farmers, we have a great interest in graphic design, so everything you can see on this website is our own creation (design, programming, images…).
But we are not alone. We have left the hosting and maintenance of hosting services to the professionals at ProfesionalHosting, and everything that has to do with Marketing, Social Media and Communications Development in general, to our friends at Resolving.
About Raf tomato
Raf stands for "Fusarium Resistant"
It was given this name as a natural seed variety due to its resistance to the "Fusarium" plague, a fungus that attacked crops in Almería, especially with high humidity concentrations.
The term "ridged" is a generic way of referring to all tomatoes that are eaten green for salad, including the Raf tomato.
They are characterized by ripening from the inside out, and by having more or less marked shoulders, with a certain irregular shape. Therefore "ridged" is not synonymous with Raf tomato, it is simply a name that encompasses both Raf and its hybrids and imitations.
No. "Pata Negra" was an attempt to designate the origin of the Raf tomato that emerged from one of the largest cooperatives in Almería, CASI.
In its first year, only authentic Raf tomatoes were allowed to be sold under this name, but from the second year onwards, they began to allow the sale of Delizia (Raf Hybrid) and the rest of the hybrids and imitations. Therefore, what started as a great initiative to distinguish authentic Raf tomatoes has become one of the most subtle forms of deception.
This name never had legal effect, and remained a mere trademark.
Its real name is RAF, as such, and corresponds to the initials of "Resistant to Fusarium".
Therefore, hybrid varieties (Delizia, Conquista, Marmalindo, Adora etc.) or their imitations (Ibérico, Dumax etc.) should never be sold as Raf, since this name corresponds to a variety, and is patented.
There is only one authentic Raf tomato variety, and it is called "RAF". The other varieties, both hybrids and imitations, have other commercial names and are registered as such.
Unfortunately, it is not easy to distinguish them, as these hybrid varieties or imitations were developed to be sold as “Raf” and to confuse the final consumer. The main objective of these hybrids is to give a greater production (more kg) even if this means losing quality, but also to maintain, as far as possible, the shapes and colours of an authentic Raf.
In general, an authentic Raf tomato is a medium-sized or small tomato, irregularly shaped with a golden green colour, but not quite deep green. The neck is slightly marked, but this fades as it ripens, and it has a smooth, crispy, but not hard, skin.
It is a question of production per plant. The more kg a plant produces, the cheaper the tomato can and should be. The Raf tomato is the least productive of all, approximately 2.5 kg/plant, while the closest hybrid, the “Delizia”, is close to 6 kg/plant, with some varieties such as Conquista, Marmalindo… reaching 10 kg/plant.
With these simple calculations, a Delizia should cost half as much as a Raf.
Therefore, if you find Raf tomatoes in the market for 2-3 Euros, you will already know that it is not Raf, but one of these imitation varieties, and if they sell you a Delizia at the same price as a Raf, they are simply “taking the piss” out of you.
Currently, the base price at source (without intermediaries) of an authentic Raf of superior quality must be around 5-6 Euros/Kg, to which must be added packaging costs, transport, intermediaries if there are any and the profit of the final seller.
If you buy from pepeRaf you will only have to pay packaging and shipping costs.
The Delizia, since it is the only one that comes from the same seed as the authentic Raf, only that it has been retouched through hybridization to be more productive (double the kg), have tougher skin, and last longer, and be more tolerant to fresh water and the climate.