Florida continues to have ample supplies of tomatoes thanks in part to warmer temperatures in the state--the end of February saw record temperatures throughout parts of Florida. “The outstanding weather over the last month means supply is pretty good. If there’s anything lacking, it’s some larger-sized round tomatoes that seem to be short compared to the smaller sized round tomatoes,” Roger Riehm of Blue Creek Produce LLC.
At the same time, Mexico has started its season short and for now, a sizeable amount of supply is staying in areas such as Mexico City due to the high demand for tomatoes in that region. “They’ve been short on some tomatoes like Romas, also because they’re in between seasons and fields,” he says. Late this week, the price jumped $2-$3 because of those short Roma supplies from Mexico and Riehm expects this to last into next week.
Slower demand, too
Riehm also says demand is slower which is also keeping the price low. “There’s not been overwhelming demand on tomatoes. A lot of tomatoes go up to the East Coast with the majority of the population up there and the weather has been rough up there with snowstorms,” he says. “As the weather warms up, people will start thinking about outdoor events and picnics and retailers will also do more ads.”
Meanwhile, planting is underway in Florida for the spring and summer tomato season and Riehm notes a continuing trend with Florida growers of all commodities. “Ever since COVID, there’s been increased building in Florida,” he says. “There are some farms over the last three to four years that have cut back on growing or just sold their farms to developers because the price of tomatoes has been cheap. It continues to be a trend here in Florida and I expect that to increase.”
For more information:
Roger Riehm
Blue Creek Produce
Ph: (630) 513-3075
roger@bluecreekproduce.com
www.bluecreekproduce.com