UNITED STATES & MEXICO - As reports of high pricing across tomato varieties hit the newswires, AndNowUKnow reached out to industry members to get a better read on the situation.

Tony Incaviglia, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for GR Fresh, gave me some insight.

“Spikes in any market normally are impacted due to gaps in transitioning growing regions or inclement weather,” he shared with me. “In this case, both are the reason. Transition is currently in play, and approximately six to eight weeks ago, frost hit the Southeast northern growing regions of Georgia and Florida. New plantings were knocked out and re-plantings took place, pushing back availability and creating a window for a tight tomato market and spike in tomato prices evident today.”

According to The Source, for the next month, Florida is the primary region for round tomato supplies, and Mexico is seeing lighter volume of the variety. A combination of higher demand and the lighter volume out of Mexico has kept the market higher.

The Source went on to note that Roma and Grape tomato prices are currently higher, too. As volumes of these varieties decrease out of Mexico, volume out of Baja should help take some pressure off of the market.

Overall, quality on tomatoes is looking good.

We’ll continue to keep you up to date on the latest in market changes, so stay tuned to us here at AndNowUKnow.