Latest News From Tomatoes

Produce for Kids and Village Farms have developed four recipes designed to get more tomatoes into holiday dishes.

Mastronardi Produce, through its Sunset brand, is releasing four “You Make Me Pasta” value-added meal kits at retailers nationwide.

Confronted with lower volumes, the market for Florida tomatoes has been considerably higher than in the same time frame in 2016.

Florida vegetable operations are finally approaching normal production, nearly three months after Hurricane Irma pummeled the state.

Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame inductee Wayne Hawkins died Nov. 19 at the age of 85.

Kingsville, Ontario-based Sunset is offering its Flavor Bowl football-shaped container filled with 1 pound of snacking tomatoes.

Tomatoes are the No. 1 produce item exported from Mexico to the U.S., according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Joe Procacci was no stranger to hard work, and virtually everyone in the produce industry was no stranger to Joe Procacci.

Kingsville, Ontario-based Mastronardi Produce donated $20,000 to the Movember Foundation in November to raise awareness for men’s health.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Albion, Maine, has been honored with two All-America Selections Committee awards for its vegetables.

This edition of The Packer's AgDay TV covers Argentine lemon imports, California's bell pepper harvest and tiny greenhouse tomatoes from NatureFresh Farms.

Florida ag leaders will talk about factors affecting crops in the state, from Hurricane Irma to pests and disease, and what’s being done to improve the outlook for the industry.

Move over grape tomatoes, there’s a smaller tomato in town.

Hialeah Tomatoes & Fresh Produce has purchased a Redland, Fla., packinghouse.

NatureSweet has hired Justin Lambeth as chief commercial officer, responsible for activities related to marketing, sales, product development and customer service.

Village Farms will highlight its newest tomato variety, Lorabella Blossom, at its Fresh Summit booth Oct. 20-21.

With acquisitions of land in in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Farmer’s Best is expanding shipments of cucumbers, roma tomatoes and green bell peppers.

More than 420,000 acres of citrus production were affected by the storm, according to a report by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Leamington, Ontario-based Pure Flavor will showcase its snack food lines during the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit expo, as well as promote its groundbreaking on a Georgia greenhouse.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – NatureSweet has a new organic product line.

McDonald's Corp. honored Taylor Farms with its Self-Managed Excellence award for its food safety, quality and sustainability efforts.

The seasonal uptick in volume of Mexican tomatoes crossing the U.S. border at Otay Mesa, Calif., should be under way by the start of September.

Sourcing and promoting locally grown produce has become a huge issue across the country as retailers and foodservice operators attempt to reduce costs and carbon footprints, and consumers seek fresher food choices while

Tomato growers aren’t complaining about the weather in California and Mexico’s Baja California, but they say the markets could be better.

Firebaugh, Calif.-based tomato grower-shipper Red Rooster Sales is looking to the sun to power its business in a future of skyrocketing costs.

Business updates on companies featured in The Packer's California/Baja Tomatoes section

The per-box assessment on Florida tomatoes is going up from 3 cents to 3.5 cents per box, effective Aug. 1, according to a final rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Following difficult, weather-related growing conditions that negatively impacted many commodities last spring, this year's outlook has been optimistically deemed "as good as it can get."

Michael Schadler has joined the Maitland, Fla.-based Florida Tomato Committee as deputy manager, and will also lead the Florida Tomato Exchange and Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.

Kingdom Fresh Farms launched a new marketing campaign using social media and other methods to promote greenhouse round, roma and grape tomatoes.

Camarillo, Calif.-based Houweling's Tomatoes is launching three new tomato packs as part of its premium Signature Selection line.

Wholesum Family Farms, Nogales, Ariz., is beefing up its heirloom tomato program and has added a new organic tomato to its product line, said Jessie Gunn, marketing manager.

Supplies of tomatoes, the No. 1 commodity imported from west Mexico through the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry, are plentiful this season. Perhaps too plentiful, distributors say.

NatureFresh Farms has been named as one of five finalists for the international award of World's Most Inspirational Tomato Grower at FruitLogistica.

Consumer insights researcher Amy Bowen and biochemist David Liscombe are working together to develop a delicious red tomato-on-the-vine they know North American consumers will love.

After being nearly eclipsed by grape tomatoes in the past few years, greenhouse cherry tomatoes are ripe for a comeback.

Grower-shippers in Florida said damage from January winds will result in decreased yields for some commodities.

Oceanside Pole announced it will expand tomato acreage, add Brussels sprouts and rebrand through marketer Oppy.

At the Florida tomato industry's annual meeting, growers and packers elected new leaders to direct their industry organizations.

Eastern Editor Doug Ohlemeier reports from the annual Joint Tomato Conference in Naples, Fla. National Editor Tom Karst gets the lowdown on the Koru apple variety from Oneonta Starr Ranch's Bruce Turner.

NAPLES, Fla. - At the Florida tomato industry's annual conference, food safety is always a big topic.

At the Sept. 5-8 Joint Tomato Conference meetings, grower-shippers learned more about challenges facing their industry as well as how their marketing organizations' plans to promote their products.

Reggie Brown, longtime manager of the Maitland-based Florida Tomato Committee and executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange and Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, will retire in early 2018 after a successor o

Unfavorable weather made for a difficult 2015-16 growing season for Florida tomato growers while growers this season face new challenges.

NAPLES, Fla. - Audit fatigue may be close to ending. Growers and packers participating in food safety training at the Florida Joint Tomato Conference heard some good news about the ending multiple audits.

As Florida's tomato industry meets Sept. 6-9 in Naples, Fla., for the joint tomato conference, growers and shippers need to consider the future of their business.

SunFed shipping higher volumes of tomatoes this year

For the first time, a pesticide-resistant whitefly has been discovered outdoors in the U.S.

Grower-shippers of Baja California, Mexico, tomatoes took a bit of a break in August and look forward to what they hope will be a stronger market in the fall.