Mutti’s CEO on climate change, forced labour and the fight for share

As Mutti wraps up its earliest harvest ever, having started a full 10 days ahead of its usual schedule, CEO Francesco Mutti says he’s “extremely depressed”.

“I’m definitely concerned about tomatoes, but I’m much more concerned about the bigger picture,” he says. “We are raising our temperature in an unbelievable way, and that puts a question not only on tomatoes but on what will be our future.”

Mutti has reason to be worried. Italy recorded its hottest summer ever this year with temperatures as high as 45°c in some regions. As in the UK, Italy faced a severe water shortage, typified by the River Po falling by up to 80% – a “disaster”, he says.

Despite the challenges, it was “a good year” in terms of quality, with quantity only slightly down. Mutti says if it had been slightly cooler “it could have been even better, because it was a dry year”.

As such, water supply poses a “tremendous question” long term, Mutti says. For tomatoes, the main issue with water is cost, but “due to the [high] value” of tomatoes it will be worthwhile to “drill down” ever further for water – even if it adds a “substantial” cost to production, which he estimates at up to 20%.

Heat is more of a factor: tomatoes don’t thrive under really hot conditions, Mutti explains, and while previously, tomato plants could recover from hot days with cooler nights, higher temperatures at night are reducing the plant’s “ability to restore itself”. This means “productivity is reduced” and it’s harder to harvest all the fruit at the same time, which results in “a reduction in quantity and quality and a fight between unripe tomatoes and overripe tomatoes”.

Mutti works with 1,000 family farms and only takes 100% Italian tomatoes. It also rewards quality, with farmers getting a 10% income boost for higher quality and an extra financial reward for the highest quality crop of the day. At the end of the season, one farmer is awarded the Pomodorino D’Oro in recognition of the quality of their produce.

“A lot of farmers would like to come to Mutti, not just because we bring their tomatoes around the world, but they get better revenue,” Mutti says.

The brand is now available in more than 100 countries and growing rapidly. This means its farmers will need to produce more, and it will need to take on extra suppliers, but Mutti warns this will take time. “If a farmer cultivates 30 hectares and you ask him to do 33, he will do it properly, but if you ask him to do 60, it’ll be a disaster,” he says.

Investing in his farmers’ future sustainably builds trust while giving Mutti more security of supply. He admits the brand has looked at moving production to cooler parts of Europe, like Finland, but the idea is not without challenges.

“The culture of the farmer comes from decades or more of doing the job,” he explains. “Starting in a totally new region requires time, and then you’re never sure you’ll obtain the quality of tomatoes you’re looking for.”

This is part of what makes preparing for climate change so difficult: it’s “totally unpredictable” and “there’s not a single solution”. Some of those Mutti has explored are reducing pesticide use, looking at different varieties that need less water and using crop rotation to prevent the spread of pests and disease.

“We should stand still? No. We know that no single act can change [the situation], but at least act,” he says.

Mutti calls for a whole population effort to approach climate change in a “structured way”. Recalling the 2015 Paris Agreement, he is disheartened that not much progress has been made and calls for democracies to have a “strong collaboration between us, trying to bring other countries in, not fighting among ourselves”.

This is more difficult, he admits, with “someone in the US saying ‘drill, baby, drill’”. Not only does it undermine climate progress, it makes doing business the right way more difficult, as “if you want to go in a different direction, you will be penalised”.

Treating tomato growers responsibly

Mutti has always prided itself on doing business the right way. It has used 100% mechanised harvest since the 1990s and requires this of all its growers. The south of Italy was slower to adopt mechanical harvesting, which Mutti says makes “no sense because it’s more expensive”. Unless “you start underpaying people”, which is exactly what led to instances in the past decade of foreign agricultural labourers so cheap it was often described as a form of modern slavery. Widespread mechanisation has reduced these risks in European products, but elsewhere things are less clear.

In 2024, a BBC report found several ‘Italian’ tomato purées sold by UK supermarkets contained tomatoes grown and picked in China using forced labour. “Traceability in China? It’s a nice joke,” says Mutti. Most UK and European retailers have since stopped purchasing Chinese tomatoes and the country’s production has dropped.

Whether due to the brand’s people credentials, or simply its commitment to provenance and flavour, the “unique” UK market is thriving for Mutti.

Previously, the category was flat and commoditised with just a few brands playing in an aisle led by own label. While Mutti doesn’t want to talk about the competition, there was “a really big opportunity” when it established its UK subsidiary in 2024.

It’s now the country’s second-biggest tinned tomato brand, accounting for 13% of sales, and Mutti is confident that it will soon hold the top spot.

“I don’t think our lovely story alone convinces hundreds of millions of people to buy Mutti,” he says. “But more people are discovering that with simple, quality ingredients, they can create fantastic dishes.”