Florida Tomato Committee Votes Against the "Certificate of Privilege" Request for Procacci Brothers' UglyRipe™ Heirloom Variety Tomato

Move Will Deny U.S. Consumers the Tasty, Florida-grown "Back Yard" Tomato Desired this Winter

(Philadelphia - January 6, 2005) By a vote of 8 to 3, the Florida Tomato Committee (FTC) yesterday chose to ignore the wishes of consumers by denying a Certificate of Privilege to Santa Sweets, Inc., a subsidiary of Procacci Brothers, for its UglyRipe™, heirloom variety tomato.

The Certificate would have exempted the UglyRipe from current marketing standards, allowing Procacci Brothers to grow the tomato profitably in Florida and market it outside of the state's growing area during this winter's growing season. Virtually all of the nation's field-grown tomatoes come from Florida during the winter growing season when the Florida Tomato Committee regulates the exportation of round tomatoes to the rest of the United States. Typical Florida Round winter tomatoes are round, smooth, and picked green - then gassed to turn a pinkish red prior to shipping. The process is highly mechanized, and the growers who comprise the Florida Tomato Committee have invested heavily in the future of Florida Round tomatoes.

The FTC was established in 1955 under Federal Marketing Order No. 966, which annually regulates the Florida fresh tomato industry South and East of the Suwannee River from October 10 through June 15. The Committee sets standards pertaining to the shape of round tomatoes that may be exported from Florida. The FTC has insisted that the UglyRipe must fall under the marketing order and categorizes the tomato as a misshapen Florida Round variety tomato. Cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and greenhouse beefsteak tomatoes are exempt to these standards because they aren't bred to be large and/or round. As heirloom tomatoes, UglyRipes aren't bred to be round, but the FTC still classifies it as a Florida Round Tomato, and 80 percent of them cannot pass inspection.

Procacci Brothers CEO, Joseph Procacci said, "They bred Florida Round tomatoes for shape, we bred an heirloom tomato for taste. The standards are set for shape only. Heirlooms will never be round, nor do consumers care if they are round. So the Florida Tomato Committee is imposing a ridiculous standard that we can only meet by throwing out at least 8 of 10 very tasty tomatoes. That's wasteful, and the consumer will be the loser."

During the warmer months, UglyRipes are grown in New Jersey and the Southeastern U.S. But in the winter the growing shifts to Florida. After Procacci Brothers spent millions of dollars on research to develop the seed, which comes from the French Marmonde heirloom variety, they are now effectively unable to sell their winter crop from Florida, much to the dismay of northern tomato lovers.

Next Steps for the UglyRipe

"If the FTC set tomato standards to ensure a better product for the American consumer and our tomato is not meeting those standards, then the FTC has failed in its mission," said Procacci. "Their regulation is working against the public interest. We gave them the opportunity to make right by requesting the Certificate of Privilege, but after yesterdays vote it's clear we will have to use other means of ensuring consumers get a tasty tomato during the winter. We would prefer to work with the FTC," Procacci continued, "But our next step would be to ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture to intervene. Another option we're considering is to seek legislation that would end the 1955 marketing order and eliminate the Florida Tomato Committee."

About Heirloom Tomatoes

Although there is no standard definition for heirloom, most experts describe heirlooms as being passed down through several generations of a family because of its best characteristics. They are soft tomatoes with limited shelf life and fall into four major categories: commercial, family, created, and mystery. Commercial heirlooms are open-pollinated varieties introduced before 1940. Family heirlooms come from seeds passed down over several generations. Created heirlooms come from crossing two known parents-either two heirlooms or an heirloom and a hybrid-and then dehybridizing the seeds for as long as it takes to get rid of the negative characteristics and keep the positive ones. The fourth category is the mystery heirloom, which is a product of natural cross-pollination of other heirloom varieties. All heirloom varieties are open pollinated, but not all open-pollinated varieties are heirlooms. Heirlooms are not hybrid tomatoes that are grown for commercial purposes. Hybrids tend to lose both flavor and color after several generations of breeding (This and more information about heirlooms can be found in the November 2003 Florida Grower Magazine article "Heirloom Tomatoes Offer Opportunities").

How Tomato Fans Can Help

Consumers can help by contacting your Member of Congress to ask that the U.S.D.A Federal Marketing Order No. 966 no longer apply to the UglyRipes. More information is available at www.uglyripe.com.

Procacci Brothers, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1948 and has since become one of the largest growers and handlers of fresh tomatoes in the world, and handling over 275 thousand tons of produce per year. Procacci Brothers and its Garden State Farms division supply the supermarket industry with a full line of fresh repacked and private labeled fruits and vegetables from around the world. In addition, they are a major supplier of pre-made gift baskets, packed fresh to order daily. From the freshest produce in the world, to the most innovative packaging, to attentive and personalized service, it's always the best. Procacci….in the business of produce. For more information, go to their website, at www.procaccibrothers.com.