Local growers bring competitive edge to tomatoes

Riehm notes that the warm weather has helped tomato production in regions such as Carolina, Tennessee and California. “California alone there are several different regions where you have plenty of tomatoes,” says Riehm. “There are tomatoes coming not only from Baja, Mexico but through San Diego and in Fresno in the northern region of California. And then in Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina, it’s been really hot and dry and it seems like the tomatoes are all coming on at once.” Additionally, Riehm notes that in two weeks, New Jersey and Michigan will also begin their tomato production.

Overall the good weather has pushed volume up slightly for 2018. “It seems there’s a little bit more than last year,” says Riehm. “It’s been extremely warm and all the tomatoes are coming on the vine really strong right now because it hasn’t had a lot of rain out there.”

Meanwhile demand is comparable to last year. “Demand is okay but there’s an abundance of tomatoes everywhere,” Riehm says, adding that additional retail support and promotions would help keep the supply moving.

All of this activity puts pricing at stable levels at least. “Pricing has also been less than the growers would like it to be,” says Riehm. “With all the growing regions in full force, it’s weaker than last year by at least 10 percent.”

Looking ahead, barring any large weather events, Riehm notes there’s only one issue that could catch up with tomato production for the summer of 2018. “With everything coming on now, will we have a gap in about a month because everything is turning color a lot quicker than normal?” he notes. “Could we see a gap because they’re picking now?”