Supply of greenhouse tomatoes has been good, however the market has been weak for some time on romas, rounds, and grapes, according to Matt Mastronardi, VP of Sales & Marketing for Pure Flavor. “Tomatoes on the vine were strong but have eased up in the past ten days,” he said, “probably a combination of higher retails and slower customer demand this time of year.”
Demand this month has been slow but he says it’s par for the course at this time of year; typically mid-January till March is slow for all vegetables, he says. A darker January has slowed plant growth in Canada and he says the industry may see some delayed starts on bell peppers and other tomatoes from Canada. Mexico’s weather has been normal.
Pure Flavor recently started a full line of organic produces: grape tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, tomatoes on the vine, long English cucumbers and bell peppers. Just this New Year they launched their new Cloud 9 specialty snacking tomato that’s packaged in an environmentally friendly box made from tomato plant fibers. “Our company goal is to always look for different ways to innovate with our sustainability and we were able to do so with our Cloud 9 tomato packaging,” said Mastronardi. Pure Hothouse Foods is the first Canadian company packing tomatoes in their own plant fibers, creating an all-compostable recycled paper tray. The product was a finalist nomination at the PMA 2016 Impact Awards.
Fore more information:
Matt Mastronardi, VP of Sales & Marketing
Pure Flavor
Ph: 519-326-8444
