Latest News From Tomatoes

TUBAC, Ariz. ——  The Mexican tomato trade contributed an estimated $4.8 billion in total economic activity to the U.S. economy in 2016, a new study says.

Pure Hothouse Foods, Leamington, Ontario, which markets under the Pure Flavor brand, has broken ground on a distribution center 10 minutes from the company’s new greenhouse facility in Fort Valley, Ga.

Mastronardi Produce’s Sunset brand has donated $20,000 to the Movember Foundation to raise awareness about men’s health, bringing the company’s total contribution to the group to $80,000.

Researchers from Brazil, the U.S. and Germany have created a new crop from a wild plant within a single generation using CRISPR-Cas9, a modern genome editing process.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Get ready for more flavor and innovation in the produce aisle.

Josh Cabana has joined Sunripe Certified Brands’ national sales and business development team.

Western U.S. availability of Tasti-Lee Tomatoes is expected to rapidly grow in 2019, in a partnership with Flavorful Brands and The Produce Exchange/Lipman Family Farms.

NatureSweet, San Antonio, is introducing a new line of branded greenhouse cucumbers, peppers and large tomatoes at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit Oct. 19-20 in Orlando, Fla.

Are you sweet or smooth?

Greenhouse grower Pure Flavor, Leamington, Ontario, is launching seven products at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit Oct. 19-20 in Orlando, Fla.

Greenhouse tomato grower NatureSweet has promoted Jim McErlean to vice president of sales.

Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. Inc., Coral Gables, Fla., is offering year-round tomato supplies with a partnership with Rene Produce LLC.

The third edition of the Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Fresh Tomato Supply Chain has been released. 

A 10-acre hydroponic greenhouse complex and a large potato farming operation in O’Neill, Neb., were two of several agricultural businesses targeted in raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Lipman Family Farms, known as a major supplier of field-grown tomatoes, is leveraging its foodservice distribution network to supply greenhouse tomatoes from NatureSweet to quick-service restaurants.

Oceanside Pole tomatoes have a new brand this season: “On a Mission, Since 1939.”

Bell peppers and tomatoes saw big production increases in 2017, while sweet corn acreage was stable.

Kingsville, Ontario-based Red Sun Farms took home some honors for its tomatoes and cucumbers in the 11th annual Leamington Greenhouse Vegetable Awards.

Leamington, Ontario-based NatureFresh Farms’ produce got some love in the 11th annual Greenhouse Vegetable Awards with a People’s Choice award and three Kids’ Choice awards.

Kingsville, Ontario-based Mastronardi Produce recently earned seven awards for its tomatoes and peppers at the 11th annual Leamington Greenhouse Competition.

Copy editor and designer Amelia Freidline and staff writer Ashley Nickle discuss the produce age gap for tomatoes.

Mexican tomato grower-exporter Globalmex International Inc., which ships the Magic Sun brand throughout North America, is expanding acreage and adding more varieties.

Kingsville, Ontario-based Mastronardi Produce has added its Angel Sweet grape tomato to its organic lineup.

Amid continued growth in protected agriculture south of the border, Mexico and the U.S are negotiating a new five year-price minimum price suspension agreement for tomatoes.

Despite the challenges a wetter climate can give organic producers, New Jersey growers are still investing in organic agriculture.

Quick-service restaurant Wendy’s will soon be sourcing only vine-ripened, greenhouse-grown tomatoes for its U.S. and Canada locations.

Greenhouse grower-shipper Village Farms International is extending an exclusive growing partnership with a Mexican company, boosting supplies of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

Mucci Farms’ Huron, Ohio, greenhouse is now officially open with the start of harvesting from phase 1 of the 60-acre facility.

Greenhouse grower-shipper Village Farms International is extending an exclusive growing partnership with a Mexican company, boosting supplies of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has sanctioned two produce businesses that failed to pay Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act reparation awards.

Mastronardi Produce, Kingsville, Ontario, which markets under the Sunset brand, has introduced 21 new recipes developed by celebrity chef Roger Mooking. 

Fresh Express, NatureSweet and Litehouse Inc. are partnering for a national retail promotion during May, National Salad Month.

Sunset brand You Make Me pasta kits won the Most Innovative Value-Added Solution category at the Viva Fresh Expo’s inaugural Gateway to Innovation Awards.

Agriculture Sonny Perdue toured Mastronardi Produce’s Coldwater, Mich., greenhouse on his “Back to Our Roots” RV road trip, sampling vegetables and discussing grower issues.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, (foreground), Lef Farms in Loudon, N.H., in September during a “Back to Our Roots” RV tour. Perdue and USDA staff are again traveling in an RV this week.

Leamington, Ontario-based NatureFresh Farms is expanding greenhouse acreage.

The Leamington-based Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers has vowed to protect its sector in the wake of guilty pleas by member company Amco Produce Inc. to mislabeling Mexican produce as Ontario-grown.

(UPDATED, March 22) Caught for labeling Mexican grown vegetables as Canadian between 2012 and 2014, Leamington, Ontario-based Amco Produce has been fined $210,000 (USD$162,00) by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Frank & Able is the new tomato-on-the-vine label from the Vancouver, British Columbia-based Oppenheimer Group.

Lipman Family Farms, which touts itself as North America’s largest grower of field tomatoes, has entered into an agreement to buy greenhouse grower Huron Produce.

Ideal growing conditions in February bode well for a timely and bountiful tomato season in Florida, growers say.

The United Fresh Produce Association is seeking comments on an update to food safety guidelines for tomatoes.

Origin Organic Farms has increased production of greenhouse English cucumbers and red bell peppers for the Delta, British Columbia, season.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has sanctioned six produce companies that have failed to pay Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act reparation awards.

Led by dominant supplies from Mexico but accelerating supply from Canada, volume of U.S. tomato imports was unchanged in 2017.

Dimare Fresh Inc. vice president and chief operating officer Eric Janke recently retired after 15 years with the company.

San Antonio-based NatureSweet Tomatoes is counting down the days until spring with a consumer contest promoting healthy eating.

Quebec-based Les Serres Stéphane Bertrand, a large Canadian greenhouse grower of tomatoes, plans to begin growing cannabis.

With tomato prices soaring above $35 per carton in mid-December, some customers are cutting back, and shippers expect market conditions will be tight into the new year.

The assessment collected by the federal Florida tomato marketing order will decline by one cent per carton for the upcoming season.