Researchers Just Developed a Tasty New Tomato Called the Scarlet Sunrise

The snackable grape variety is the brainchild of scientists at Rutgers University, who have spent more than a decade trying to produce a firm, crack-resistant fruit with a vibrant reddish-yellow color

Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent

September 22, 2025

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Nothing beats biting into a juicy, fresh-off-the-vine tomato, whether in a sandwich, a salad or as a standalone snack. Soon, tomato lovers will have a new variety to chow down on: the Scarlet Sunrise.

This tasty, bicolor grape tomato was developed by researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Using traditional plant breeding methods, scientists came up with a firm, crack-resistant fruit with a vibrant reddish-yellow color.

According to the researchers, the Scarlet Sunrise has an intense, sweet flavor with moderate acidity. The plant itself is high yielding, meaning it can produce a lot of tomatoes, and they’re ready for plucking in just 70 days or so.

Rutgers has a long and fruitful history of breeding tomatoes. In the 1930s, for example, the university teamed up with Campbell’s—headquartered in nearby Camden, New Jersey—to develop a variety for the company’s tomato soup, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Frank Kummer.

Since then, Rutgers scientists have primarily focused on developing new breeds of large and medium-size tomatoes. But now, they’re moving into the world of smaller grape varieties.

Researchers Thomas Orton and Peter Nitzsche started working on the Scarlet Sunrise in 2012. They knew of two tomato varieties that each had desirable qualities, but they wondered if they could create a hybrid that would combine the best traits of each. One was a firm and flavorful commercial grape tomato, while the other was a colorful heirloom variety called Isis Candy.

“We wanted to get a unique grape tomato,” Nitzsche tells Thomas Drayton and Alex Holley of “Good Day Philadelphia.” “We wanted one that consumers could identify in the market.”

The duo spent years in the lab and in the field trying to get the cross to work as intended. The process was challenging and labor-intensive: The researchers had to use tiny tweezers to extract pollen from the flowers of one plant, then use a small paintbrush to dab the pollen onto the flowers of another plant.

“The flowers of grape and cherry tomatoes are so small and fragile … they just disintegrate,” Orton tells the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It is delicate work. I wish I was trained as a surgeon.”

Then, they had to wait for the fruit to mature—which often took more than a month. Once the tomatoes were ripe, they had to remove the seeds and sterilize them. The pair waited for those new seeds to germinate, flower and produce fruit of their own. They repeated this process again and again until they achieved the desired traits.

Finally, this summer, they had their first successful crop. After more than a decade of work, the team officially introduced the Scarlet Sunrise to the world at a tomato-tasting showcase on August 27 at the university’s research and extension farm in Pittstown, New Jersey.

Matt Cortina, a reporter for NorthJersey.com, had a chance to try the new cultivar—and he was a big fan of the bold flavor and snappy texture. “I went back for seconds and thirds,” he writes.

Nitzsche and Orton are still finessing the Scarlet Sunrise. For example, they hope to make the plants shorter and more manageable, because they can currently grow up to eight feet tall.

They plan to make seeds available next spring. The university is actively seeking seed partnerships with commercial growers, according to a statement.

“The hope is that some local growers will adopt it, and the seed will become available to growers, but then also gardeners, too,” Nitzsche tells the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s probably always going to be a little bit of a specialty market and production.”

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Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.