PLUs
3061 beefsteak
4063 small, 6x6 size and smaller
4064 large, 5x6 size and larger
4796 cherry, red
4797 cherry, yellow
3146 cherry, on the vine
3147 cherry, yellow, on the vine
3150 cocktail/intermediate, red
3335 cocktail/intermediate, red, on the vine
3336 cocktail/intermediate, plum/Italian/saladette/roma, on the vine
4798 greenhouse/hydroponic, small
4799 greenhouse/hyrdoponic, large
4087 plum/Italian/saladette/roma, red
3145 plum/Italian/saladette/roma, yellow
3282 plum/Italian/saladette/roma, on the vine
4805 vine-ripe, small (6x6 and smaller)
3151 vine-ripe, large (5x6 and larger)
4778 yellow
3148 yellow, on the vine
4664 on the vine
4803 teardrop/pear
4804 teardrop/pear, yellow
Retail Price Data is based on USDA Specialty Crops Market News surveys.
Data collection ends on the report date and encompasses ad pricing good
from the Saturday before the report release date through the following Friday.
Weekly data - from over 400 retailers, comprising more than 30,000 individual
stores with online weekly advertised features - covers over 250 produce
items. Registered (logged-in) users, can access weekly reports and additional
market information.
USDA Specialty Crops Market News publishes FOB and Movement data on a daily and weekly
basis. Pricing and volume information is aggregated by commodity and published weekly,
subject to any source-data adjustments. Commodity data is further processed based on origin
(domestic vs imports) and type (regular vs. organic). Registered (logged-in) users, can access
weekly reports and additional market information.
Facts
- Tomatoes can help improve your health. Diets containing tomatoes have been shown to improve heart health. Tomatoes contain vitamin C, which can improve the immune system’s ability to fight disease. Tomatoes also contain lycopene, which has been shown to fight cancer. Lycopene is found in higher concentrations in cooked tomatoes. Studies show the lycopene in tomatoes may help maintain healthy bones.
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the following nutrient content descriptors for tomatoes: low-fat, saturated fat-free, sodium-free (must state that tomatoes contain less than 5 mg sodium per 85 g tomato), cholesterol-free, low in calories, a good source of vitamin A and high in vitamin C.
Sales Strategies
- Tomatoes are extremely versatile so pair them up with other products, including salsa ingredients, bacon, lettuce, bread, bagged salad, taco shells and spaghetti sauce ingredients.
- Tomatoes are available year-round and many households purchase them every week. Promote tomatoes throughout the year.
- Fall: Include tomatoes in football game-day promotions as they are a popular topping for burgers and in homemade salsa. Offer grape tomatoes as part of back-to-school promotions as they are the perfect size for the lunch box.
- Winter: Include tomatoes in holiday promotions as part of a salad. Encourage consumers to purchase tomatoes for a hearty wintertime meal of spaghetti with homemade sauce. Promote tomatoes during the Super Bowl as a base for the ever-popular salsa.
- Spring: Offer tomatoes as part of a springtime salad promotion. Include tomatoes in Cinco de Mayo promotions as no Mexican celebration is complete without salsa.
- Summer: Promote tomatoes as part of summertime grilling promotions as they are a good topping for burgers and other grilled sandwiches.
- Offer samples of grape tomatoes to encourage consumers to consider them as a snack.
Dynamic Displays
- Offer variety in your tomato display. Include beefsteak, roma, grape, cherry and on-the-vine options for consumers.
- Don’t refrigerate tomatoes and make sure consumers know tomatoes are better when stored at room temperature.
- Avoid stacking tomatoes to keep the bottom layer from getting crushed.
- If you stock stem-on tomatoes, be sure they all face the same way to avoid puncturing them with the stems. Leaving the stems on retains the farm-fresh smell of tomatoes.
- Give tomatoes plenty of room and keep the display well-stocked. Consumers will be looking for tomatoes, so make them easy to find.
- Place tomatoes next to avocados as the color contrast creates an eye-catching display.
Food Service
- Peeling tomatoes can be difficult. Make it easier by boiling them for 30 seconds. Let them cool, then peel.
- To easily remove the seeds from a tomato, cut it in half crosswise, then gently squeeze the tomato in the palm of your hand.
- Offer tomatoes in salads and on salad bars.
- Chopped tomatoes are a tasty addition to omelets.
- Use tomatoes as a base for salsa and marinara sauce.
- Slice tomatoes and use them to top sandwiches and burgers.
In the Backroom
Shipping
25-lb. cartons, loose 20-lb. flats/cartons 3-layer lugs 2-layer lugs cherry and grape 12 1-pint baskets green 10-, 20-, and 25-lb. cartons, loose plum or roma 25-lb. cartons loose greenhouse 15-lb. flats, 1-layer 7-kilo flats, 1-layer RPC – 6409, 6411, 6413, 6416, 6419, 6420, 6423, 6425, 6426
Grades
fresh tomatoes U.S. No. 1 U.S. combination U.S. No. 2 U.S. No. 3 greenhouse U.S. No. 1 U.S. No. 2
Handling
Temperature: mature-green or pink, 62 to 68 F, 16.7 to 20 C Relative humidity: 85-88% Mist: no Typical shelf life: mature-green 21 to 28 days; pink, 7 to 14 days Do not refrigerate Highly sensitive to freezing injury. (Likely to suffer injury by one light freezing.) Susceptible to chilling injury (Damage sometimes is not apparent until produce is returned to a higher temperature. At temperatures below 55 F, 13 C, tomatoes are subject to chill injury and lose flavor quickly.) Never stack more than two layers high, and keep product stem up to protect tomato shoulders. Because most tomatoes are picked mature but not totally ripe, they will continue ripening in transit. Tomatoes produce ethylene, a hormone that stimulates ripening. If tomatoes have not reached the appropriate color by the time they reach the local distribution center, their ripening process will be speeded up. Ethylene treatment applied at shipping point starts the ripening process and assures more uniformly ripe fruit upon arrival at the destination point and shortens the period between harvest and display, therefore maintaining a higher degree of vitamin C.
Equivalents
1 lb. = about 3 to 4 medium tomatoes 1 lb. = about 1 to 1½ cups pulp
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