Blue Book Price Pulse: Tomato supplies tighten

East Coast receivers paid more for tomatoes this month while the summer deal behind them thinned out.

Vine-ripes on the Columbia, SC, terminal averaged 41 percent above the prior month, and Tennessee shipped less than half the volume it moved in the 30 days before. Buyers east of the Mississippi should start lining up Florida and Georgia fruit now, since both origins enter their fall windows this quarter.

Supply: the summer deal closes out

Southeastern volume fell hard over the 30 days through Oct. 21. USDA movement out of Tennessee dropped 53 percent to 5.4 million pounds; Alabama fell 47 percent and South Carolina eased 22 percent. Central California still shipped 40.8 million pounds, the most of any domestic origin in the window, but that’s 20 percent below the month before.

Canadian fruit kept crossing in volume, with 18.4 million pounds through Detroit and another 5.3 million through Buffalo. Blaine, WA, went the other way, down 40 percent to 3.2 million pounds.

Prices: terminals climb

Of the 25 largest month-over-month tomato moves on U.S. terminal markets, 20 went up. Mature greens gained roughly 20 percent or more in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston. At shipping points, central Florida mature greens rose 13 percent as the fall crop gets started.

The Southeast stands out on both sides of the ledger. Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina shipped less, and the three biggest terminal gains landed in Columbia, Raleigh and Atlanta.

What’s next

Three years of USDA movement show Florida available from October into June and Georgia peaking in November. Tennessee, Alabama and Central California typically finish by the end of November, and Virginia and North Carolina usually wrap this month. By December, Florida and Georgia are the only two of these seven origins still shipping.

Track tomato prices and movement weekly in Blue Book’s Market Intelligence, and use Blue Book to find and vet Florida and Georgia shippers before the handoff.