Eastern Iowa tomato prices double

The skyrocketing price of Florida produce is hitting home in Eastern Iowa now.  And for tomato lovers, that means be prepared to pay up or do without.

The cold weather in January and February that prompted so much grumbling here reached down to Florida as well.  And the cold wiped out an estimated 70% of the tomato crop in that southern state.  That's important since most fresh tomatoes in Iowa come from Florida in the wintertime.  And the impact on prices was immediate.

At the Johnson Avenue Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids, regular and "hothouse" tomatoes are running in the $3.00 to $4.00 price range.  The wholesale price nearly doubled in the last couple of weeks.

One shopper, Sara LeClere, said it's grabbed her attention.

"Buy a little less...or just pay the price I guess," LeClere said.

Produce manager Mike Gehring said sales will go down as the price goes up and he's telling people to not expect any real price relief for about six weeks.

"They're looking at another couple of months before Florida gets back in full production," Gehring said.

The tomatoes on sale now at area Hy-Vee stores come from Mexico and the price shot up primarily because of the lack of competition from Florida.  Other warm weather states like California produce tomatoes mainly for processed foods like tomato paste and won't have any available for retail grocery stores for several months.

The tomato price hike is impacting restaurants as well as grocery stores.  Last Monday, Wendy's Restaurants in the Cedar Rapids area posted signs saying customers must now request tomatoes for any sandwich.

Shawna Lane, manager of the Sub City in downtown Cedar Rapids, said for now she's absorbing the increase without trying to slice tomatoes any thinner.  When the shop tried to eliminate tomatoes years ago during another shortage--it backfired.

"In the past, when a previous owner had done it they (customers) stopped coming.  They got a little angry," Lane said.

So far the big impact on prices appears to be limited to tomatoes.  Citrus in area grocery stores mainly comes from California and not Florida.  The freeze there will likely have a big impact on orange juice prices later.

Chile also sends a lot of fruit like grapes, plums and peaches to U.S. stores in the winter.  One produce manager says the concern now is earthquake damage may disrupt shipping and result in higher prices that that fruit as well.  But it hasn't happened yet.