By Frank Giles
The Florida tomato season is in the books. We asked Michael Schadler, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, how the season went and what are the Exchange’s priorities heading into next year. Here’s what he had to say.
How did the season go for your grower members?
Schadler: From a production perspective, we had a pretty good season with strong yields and good quality. Harvest volume was up approximately 14% compared to the 2020-2021 crop year. The weather was cooperative for the most part, outside of one cold snap in the heart of the winter.
The market, however, was not cooperative. The majority of our crop goes to the foodservice segment and demand just wasn’t as robust as we would have hoped. There were still lingering COVID-19 impacts, some of which may just be the new normal. Increased tomato volume from both Mexico and Florida made it so that prices just simply couldn’t compensate for the rising costs that tomato growers and packers have faced over the last 12 to 18 months. It’s been an extremely difficult operating environment for everyone given the increasing input costs, whether it’s fertilizer, diesel, boxes or pallets. Not to mention wage costs. Unfortunately, this combination of factors made the 2021-2022 season a very challenging one.
What are some of your priorities for the remainder of 2022 and heading into 2023?
Shadler: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, a priority for us is improving the Tomato Suspension Agreement. The agreement continues to have trouble stopping cheap imported tomatoes from entering the U.S. market during times of oversupply. The agreement simply didn’t function how it was supposed to during extended periods of depressed prices this past season. We will continue to address this with the U.S. Commerce Department, which is the agency in charge of enforcing the agreement.