34th Joint Tomato Conference: Florida tomato industry remains strong

Event held on 8-13 September in Naples, Florida

On 8-13 September, the Florida Tomato Committee and the Florida Tomato Exchange co-hosted the 34th annual Joint Tomato Conference at the Ritz-Carlton, Naples. Key tomato industry leaders met to review the past year and to share projects for the forthcoming campaign.

Reggie Brown, manager of the Maitland-based Florida Tomato Committee and executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, focused his address on market characteristics during the past season, stressing high production costs and demand issues, as reported in naplesnews.com:

“We experienced the highest cost of production that we’ve probably ever seen in tomatoes. That combination of very high cost and very low returns resulted in probably the largest losses the industry has recorded ever.”

Asked about media reports of some very poor results announced by Florida Tomato Growers at their annual conference, Terence McElroy, Communications Director and Press Secretary for Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, expressed his optimism about the forthcoming campaign: “While it faces many challenges, the Florida tomato industry remains strong and is hoping for a good year in the 2009-2010 growing season.”

More information about the 2008 Florida Tomato Conference can be found at www.floridatomatoes.org.

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