ONE of Jersey’s biggest tomato growers says he may have to all but quit the business because of soaring oil prices.
Stanley Payn’s family have been growing tomatoes at Fauvic for 100 years, but trading conditions have become so difficult that he says it is becoming increasingly hard to make ends meet.
The problem is that supermarkets are refusing to increase the price they pay for tomatoes even though production costs have spiralled. As a result, Mr Payn has revealed that he is unlikely to export any tomatoes to the UK next year and will just grow a small amount for the local market.
Mr Payn, who is the proprietor of Fauvic Nurseries and Holme-Grown, said that his farm grew around 25 per cent of the Island’s export crop. The industry is worth an estimated £6 million a year.
