When the arrival nears for a new crop of Arkansas tomatoes, consumers can hardly wait.
At least that’s the opinion of Gary Margolis.
“We view the Arkansas tomato deal as strictly a specialty deal these days,” he said.
Margolis, a tomato marketer who owns Hamburg, Ark.-based Gem Tomato & Vegetable Sales, said Arkansas tomatoes are among the first vine-ripe tomatoes available for the summer season.
Shipments typically start in early June when the Florida deal, which is mostly mature-green tomatoes, is winding down. The California crop typically won’t start until later.
“We see a nice window coming,” Margolis said. “I think the country is hungry for field-grown, vine-ripe tomatoes in the months of June and July.”
Retailers are interested in promotions, he added.
Margolis primarily markets tomatoes grown by Hamburg-based Triple M Farms. He sells them throughout the Midwest and beyond.
“We go from St. Louis up to Iowa and east to Pittsburgh,” he said.
He said that there’s much competition in the marketplace, especially from greenhouse operations and growers who offer heirloom varieties, but he thinks that by selecting the right commercially grown varieties, an Arkansas grower can offer round, roma, grape and cherry tomatoes with excellent flavor, quality and shelf life.
“I consider it a breath of fresh air when summer approaches,” he said. “I think field-grown vine-ripes, especially in the summertime, are superior, and I think our customers recognize that.”
Margolis, who has been working with the fruit since 1982, said tomatoes are a tough business, with increasing production costs and thin margins.
“It’s tempting to cut back in the wake of higher production costs,” he said, “but we’re also seeing rising fobs.”
He said he met with Triple M owners James Meeks and Wendall Moffatt, and they decided to maintain their acreage, even as many competitors cut back.
“They are as efficient as they could possibly be,” he said. “We analyzed our customer base, and we grow our crop for them.”
Margolis estimated that 80% of the company’s crop is pre-sold or committed to buyers who have been customers for decades.
When it comes to selling tomatoes, Margolis is old school.
He uses a pencil and paper to take orders and prefers to talk with buyers in person, not via the internet.
And you’ll often find him in a packinghouse inspecting tomatoes with growers.
“Tomatoes are a hands-on product,” he said. “Batting .500 is good in baseball but not for tomato deliveries.”
Margolis said he follows the crop and lives on growers’ premises in Arkansas, Michigan and South Florida, though he’s trying to slow down as he eases toward retirement.
This should be a good season for Arkansas tomatoes, he said.
“It’s been a wet spring, and it’s been a little bit challenging,” Margolis said, but there was no severe weather.
“The plants are healthy and green,” he said in mid-May, and he expected picking to begin the first week of June, as usual, and to continue for about six weeks.
“Everything looks good,” he said.
