Tomato Market has been holding steady for the last several weeks. Overall supply has been lower, and market has been trading at a slight premium from previous years. The drought situation in California is playing a major role in this supply gap as growers that in normal years harvest daily and are picking as little as three days per week. Even with lighter pickings, growers are getting ahead of schedule for maturity and there’s an assortment of quality problems that are surfacing after ripening.
Growers in Baja, Mexico experienced some heavy rain that slowed production about 10 days ago, and are now transitioning into some new areas, so supply has been a bit short there as well. Quality is hit or miss.
Eastern Mexico is starting, product crosses in Texas, and supply is gaining momentum. Quality is looking pretty good.
Florida growers, some are hoping to start in the next 7-10 days, but the majority of fruit coming from Quincy will be the end of October.
Organics – Organic supply has been a bit of a challenge, very hit or miss Cluster tomatoes, Romas, and especially heirlooms. Clusters and Romas should be in better supply in the next 10-14 days, but organic heirlooms will continue to be a challenge into December.