Green Mtn. Griller
Rough weather making tomatoes hard to find
September 24, 2006
Tomato prices 5133from an article The heat in California wasn't nearly searing. It's been hotter and longer in many preceding years. Could the author name one. The hurricanes were last year...
BY DARRELL SMITH Blame it on the heat. Or blame it on the rain.
"Wherever you point the finger, plan to pay more at your local grocer for tomatoes -- if you can find them.
You might not find a photo of a beefsteak or a Roma on the back of a milk carton any time soon, but tomatoes are becoming hard to find, say growers and wholesalers.
Searing summer heat in California and hurricanes in Florida and Mexico's Baja region teamed up to shrivel tomato yields by as much as 40 percent nationwide, some wholesalers estimated, sending brokers on a frenzied search for sources that supply the fruit.
Express lane 5134Nancy Young (owned Coast, in they "excuse moley, asking I've been in retail/customer service, it's TOUGH, e.g. hard...
''It's like finding a needle in a haystack to find tomatoes,'' said Jim Boyce, who owns Produce Express, a Sacramento, Calif., vegetable and fruit wholesaler.
Growers are warning that they may not be able to fill orders from wholesalers for tomatoes or will be forced to substitute other sizes or different varieties.
One produce warehouse, General Produce Co. in Sacramento, said in its weekly report to customers that the supply situation could become critical."
AP
