ANNUAL REPORT 2019 LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN For the second year in a row the Florida season began with a hurricane. Hurricane Michael made landfall on the Panhandle on October 10, 2018 and drove inland. Farmers of all commodities grown in Northern Florida and Southern Georgia were devastated as were the communities they live in. Mexico also experienced severe weather which impacted the growing regions and further stressed the North American supplies. This break in supplies and the lack foodservice sector. Despite headwinds including an of overlapping producing regions created a high-priced unfavorable exchange rate and an abundance of market which lasted through December. As supplies competition from Mexican exports and Canadian normalized so did pricing. Florida crops in Central and greenhouses, Florida tomatoes were sold across South Florida performed well throughout the season Canada at over 30 major supermarket chains, which without any major weather events and normal disease make up 80% of Canada’s grocery segment. pressures. In addition to the 25.7 million boxes of round tomatoes packed during the 2018-2019 season, Florida Of course, the elephant in the room throughout the growers also produced millions of boxes of Roma season was the cloud of uncertainty involving the tomatoes and snacking tomatoes which were shipped Tomato Suspension Agreement. In May, the agreement across the U.S. and Canada. was terminated by the U.S. Department of Commerce and negotiations for a new agreement continued The Florida Tomato Committee once again funded a throughout the summer. In late August the Mexican range of projects at the University of Florida including industry and the Commerce Department finally agreed research to better manage nematodes and bacterial to terms and a new agreement was implemented on spot, a project to mitigate food safety risks, and September 19, 2019, just before the start of the new breeding programs for new tomato varieties. The Florida season. Florida growers are hopeful that this breeding program of Dr. Sam Hutton and Dr. Tong new agreement when finally implemented and enforced Geon Lee made impressive progress toward varieties will be beneficial for growers in both the U.S. and that we hope will be suitable for mechanical harvesting, Mexico, leading to a consistent and sustainable supply which would help reverse the ever-increasing cost of for our customers. labor-intensive crop. Jon Esformes The Florida tomato marketing efforts in Canada Chairman, Florida Tomato Committee continued under the management of our Canadian 2018-19 representative, Brad Brownsey, who orchestrated promotional programs for both the retail and 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Committee Members, Alternates, Officers, and District Map ..................................................................4 Production & Market Summary ............................................................................................5 Canadian Marketing Program Summary ....................................................................................7 Research Summary .......................................................................................................9 Marketing Order Regulations and Compliance Summary ....................................................................10 Statistical Tables Table 1: Shipment Volume & Value – All Districts ..................................................................11 Table 2: Shipment Volume & Value – District 1 ....................................................................12 Table 3: Shipment Volume & Value – District 2....................................................................13 Table 4: Shipment Volume & Value – District 3....................................................................14 Table 5: Shipment Volume & Value – District 4 ...................................................................15 Table 6: Weekly Shipment Volume & Value.......................................................................16 Table 7: Weekly Shipment Volume by Size (Mature Green) ........................................................17 Table 8: Weekly Shipment Volume by Size (Color)................................................................18 Table 9: Weekly Shipment Volume by District ....................................................................19 Table 10: Shipment Volume & Value by District (Past 5 Seasons)....................................................20 Table 11: Shipment Volume by District (Past 5 Seasons) . .21 Table 12: Weekly Packout / Price Comparison.....................................................................21 Table 13: Weekly Price Comparison (Past 3 Seasons) . 22 Table 14: Weekly Packout Comparison (Past 3 Seasons) . .22 Table 15: Florida vs. Mexico – All Tomatoes (Oct-Jun)..............................................................23 Table 16: Florida vs. Mexico – Round Tomatoes by Month (Oct-Jun) ................................................23 Table 17: Florida vs. Mexico – Plum Tomatoes by Month (Oct-Jun) ..................................................24 Table 18: Florida vs. Mexico – Grape Tomatoes by Month (Oct-Jun) .................................................24 Table 19: Florida vs. Mexico – Cherry Tomatoes by Month (Oct-Jun) ................................................25 Table 20: Canadian, Dominican Republic, Guatemala Imports – All Types by Month (Oct-Jun, Past 5 Seasons) ..............................................................................25 DISCLAIMER: This Annual Report is intended to provide a summary of the Committee’s activities and an overview of the 2017-18 Florida tomato crop and marketing season. All prices found in this report are quoted prices, which are reported daily in the USDA Tomato Fax Report and on the USDA Market News website (www.marketnews.usda.gov). The prices in this report do not represent true transaction prices, which are typically lower than the USDA quoted prices. 3 FLORIDA TOMATO COMMITTEE REGULATED AREA that portion of the State of Florida situated East of the Wakulla Suwannee River and South of the Georgia border FLORIDA TOMATO COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND ALTERNATES 2018-2019 SEASON DISTRICT 1 Kern Carpenter Michael Borek Homestead, FL Miami, FL Tony DiMare Paul J. DiMare Homestead, FL Homestead, FL DISTRICT 4 DISTRICT 2 Mark Mecca Louis Catalano Lake Worth, FL Lake Worth, FL Vacant Vacant DISTRICT 3 DISTRICT 2 Jon Esformes Billy Heller Palmetto, FL Palmetto, FL Mike Sullivan Dan Subbert Naples, FL Naples, FL DISTRICT 3 Toby Purse Jamie Williams Immokalee, FL Immokalee, FL DISTRICT 1 David Murrah Jim Grainger FLORIDA TOMATO COMMITTEE Palmetto, FL Palmetto, FL PRODUCTION AREA the counties of Pinellas, Hillsborough, DISTRICT 4 Polk, Osceola, and Brevard and all Brian Turner Steve McCue counties situated South thereof. Palmetto, FL Palmetto, FL Bob Spencer D.C. McClure Palmetto, FL Palmetto, FL J.M. Procacci David Wilson Plant City, FL Palmetto, FL Frank Diehl Doug Diehl Wimauma, FL Wimauma, FL OFFICERS Chairman: Jon Esformes Vice Chairman: Tony DiMare Secretary: Kern Carpenter Treasurer: Mike Sullivan 4 PRODUCTION & MARKET SUMMARY A total of 25.7 million 25-lb. 10 SEASONS: PACKOUT VOLUME FROM FTC PRODUCTION AREA equivalent containers of round ROUND TOMATOES, 25-LB. EQUIVALENTS tomatoes were packed in the FTC production area during the 2018-19 season, representing a 0.8% decrease compared to the previous season’s total of 25.9 million boxes. This was the smallest crop of round tomatoes produced in the FTC production area since 1976-77 when Florida’s winter crop was wiped out by a devastating freeze (the total volume of that season was 25.2 million boxes). The FTC doesn’t track plum, grape, or cherry tomatoes, but it is estimated that round tomatoes account for approximately 70% of Florida’s total crops during the season. Hurricane Michael devastated the production volume. fall crop for growers in North Florida and South Georgia, but those regions are not part of the FTC production area and are The reduction to this season’s volume was the result of a therefore not included in this report’s statistics. decline in planted acreage. Other than Hurricane Michael in October 2018, there weren’t any adverse weather events that The fact that the 2018-19 crop was only 0.8% smaller than the significantly impacted the Central and South Florida tomato previous season is somewhat deceptive since the fall crop in 2017 was seriously impacted by Hurricane Irma. If Irma hadn’t made landfall in Florida, the year-over-year comparison would likely have been more stark. Two large growers – Harllee Packing and Fresh Del Monte Produce – decided to exit the tomato growing business prior to the start of 2018-19 season, which contributed to the FTC’s production decline. Fresh Del Monte Produce was a relatively recent addition to the Florida tomato industry, having purchased the tomato operations of East Coast Brokers and Packers Inc. in 2013. Harllee Packing, on the other hand, was one of the oldest tomato growers and packers in the state with roots going back to the late 1800s. The loss of these two operations reflects the difficult market reality and is a continuation of a trend that has seen the industry shrink from approximately 300 growers to less than 50 in the span of just 20 years. Thankfully, the quality of the crop was very good with 63% of tomatoes being packed as “85% U.S. No. 1 or better,” with “combo” and “U.S. No. 2” grades accounting for 19% and 18%, respectively. Mature greens made up 88% of the