"It's still cool enough without running the air conditioning, but the cold air will start coming out next month."
On the 29th, a massive greenhouse sat in the middle of rice paddies and fields in Gwangseok-myeon, Nonsan, South Chungcheong. As the door opened and we stepped in, the air felt cooler than outside. The pillars supporting the greenhouse rose about 7 meters high, so you had to tilt your head back to see the top. Thanks to a structure that vents hot air upward through the upper windows, the inside temperature is said to stay constant 365 days a year.
On both sides, rails tangled with tomato vines stretched endlessly. On each vine, yellow flowers yet to bear fruit, green-tinged tomatoes, and fully ripened red tomatoes hung in tiers. The roots grow not in soil but on artificial substrate made from coconut husks into which nutrients are injected, while above, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps are installed at regular intervals to supplement growth. The tomato cultivation site, where light, temperature, and nutrient supply interlock, looked like a manufacturing production line.
The site visited that day was a smart farm that grows the functional tomato "Ricomato," sold by E-MART. Ricomato is a variety that boosts the content of lycopene, an antioxidant, to about three times that of regular tomatoes, and it was recently launched exclusively at E-MART. Lycopene is known to reduce reactive oxygen species that attack cells in the body, helping prevent aging and strengthen immunity. It targets the functional tomato market following stevia tomatoes.
Kim Hyo-jin, a buyer in charge of domestic fruit at E-MART, said, "In countries such as Japan, functional tomatoes like those high in vitamin C and GABA are already distributed in many forms," and added, "We developed Ricomato with the aim of cultivating a functional tomato to follow stevia, which emphasizes a healthy sweetness, in the domestic market."
E-MART focused on the importance of the cultivation environment in the process. Functional varieties like Ricomato can only realize their quality under perfect, lab-like conditions. As cultivation environments grow more unstable due to recent climate change, the need for smart farm facilities is increasing to ensure a stable supply.
Tomatoes in particular are vulnerable to heat, and prices often surge during the heat waves in July and August. With repeated high-temperature events in recent years, production volatility has grown, and supply instability has become frequent. In fact, in the restaurant industry, unstable supply has at times led to tomatoes being temporarily omitted from franchise hamburgers and sandwiches.
A representative of Pampam, which operates the smart farm, said, "There aren't many places in Korea where tomatoes can be stably grown in summer," and added, "Even in the cooler highlands of Gangwon Province, variables such as the rainy season and strong winds make stable production difficult, and ordinary greenhouses or smart farms also struggle to withstand the conditions without substantial facilities."
The smart farm that produces Ricomato can maintain the cultivation environment regardless of the outside temperature through advanced facilities such as heating and cooling, allowing production to continue even in summer. Currently, about 10 to 15 tons per week are produced from roughly 2,000 pyeong, which is half of the 4,500-pyeong greenhouse.
Once the ongoing 10,000-pyeong expansion is completed, Ricomato production is expected to increase further. After transplanting into the additional space around June, output in August, when tomato supply is most unstable, is expected to rise to about three times the current level. Ricomato cultivation takes about two months.
The market response to Ricomato, first launched last month, has been solid. About 1,000 packs are sold on weekdays, and during promotions, daily sales have risen to 3,000 to 4,000 packs. The product is drawing strong interest especially at stores with a higher share of younger consumers.
Tomatoes are a flagship fruit at E-MART, maintaining top-tier year-round sales after strawberries. In particular, as health management demand grows among consumers in their 30s and 40s, interest in functional tomatoes is increasing. Currently, functional tomatoes such as stevia varieties account for about 20% of E-MART's total tomato sales. Last year, sales of functional tomatoes rose about 16% from the previous year.