GR Fresh's Antonio Villalobos Talks Tight Tomato Market, Season Shaping Up
MCALLEN, TX – As consumer demand for year-round fresh fruit and veggies continues to grow, fresh and flavorful tomatoes in the winter months can be a real boon for produce departments looking to increase impulse buys and drive repeat purchases.
With this in mind, I reached out to Antonio Villalobos, Executive Vice President for GR Fresh, to find out more about the winter season and what we can expect from the company’s winter tomato operations in Culiacan, Sinaloa, and South Baja California, Mexico.
“For our different winter programs we grow in the states of Guanajuato, South Baja California, Coahuila, Sonora, and Sinaloa—mainly these last two. Planting began back in September, and we have already started harvest on several of the products we offer, including cucumbers, squashes, bell peppers, hot peppers, grape tomatoes, carrots, and tomatoes from South Baja California,” Antonio explained. “Culiacan Roma and round tomato harvest will start next week and will be the main region where supplies will be coming from this winter season.”
Though the early onset of winter shortened GR Fresh’s summer program, Antonio noted that winter weather has, thus far, been amenable to growing.
“There are always challenges involved with weather in this business,” Antonio said. “Weather has been kind to us so far, and growing conditions have been good. We expect good supplies and very good quality, which we are already seeing in the items where harvest has already started.”
Antonio added that GR Fresh has ample supply of cukes and squashes right now, but the company does not expect major volume on tomatoes until February—noting that after a slow start, prices are beginning to go up in many categories, and pricing has been relatively high for tomatoes throughout the start of the winter season.
To best capitalize on winter tomatoes, Antonio noted that retailers can keep prices low when supplies are high in order to move product. He also suggests cross-promoting tomatoes with complementary products to drive attention to the category.
“I would like to see our retail partners marry tomatoes at the store display-level with like commodities such as salads or salad dressings and also creative dining recipes and ready-made take home dinner selections centered around tomatoes,” said Antonio.
For updates as the season progresses, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.
