Florida Keeps Ugly Tomatoes to Itself

FORT LONESOME, Fla., Dec. 26, 2004 — -- Call them fat. Call them odd looking, just don't call them tasteless.

Joe Procacci calls his tomatoes "UglyRipes."

"Nobody says that they don't want a beat-up tomato," Procacci says. "They want a tasty tomato."

UglyRipes are a popular new tomato selling at premium prices at supermarkets across the country. But not for long.

In Florida, strict marketing rules leave no room for ugly-looking tomatoes.

"This don't meet the grade standards because of these ridges," Procacci says. "That's a perfectly good tomato. But it doesn't meet the grade standards."

Just what gets sent out of state is governed by the Florida Tomato Committee, and they demand tomatoes that are round and smooth. Taste is not a factor.

Most of the tomatoes Americans eat in the winter come from Florida, which produces half of all the tomatoes grown in the country.

Florida tomatoes are easy to spot. They look like Christmas tree ornaments, and that's the way the marketing board wants it to stay. They worry that the ugly ripes will give Florida tomatoes a bad name.

"The first contact you make with any product is visual," says Reggie Brown of the Florida Tomato Committee. "There's a minimum visual quality standard that needs to be there."