The Out-of-Season Tomato - Not All That Bad Anymore

[KennethT]

More than occasionally, a local supermarket chain in the NY area, Fairway, offers Campari for $2.50 per container.  At other times it's $4.99

[weinoo]

Check this out...

 

 

Found at my local crappy grocery store (Fine Fare, for those who know/care), these tomatoes actually look, smell and taste very good, for having been purchased in mid-March.

 

Now, I don't know if I'll be able to find them again, and this was the first time I'd ever seen them, but quite a nice treat.

 

Together they weighed at least a pound, and they were $1.99.

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

Check this out...

 

 

Found at my local crappy grocery store (Fine Fare, for those who know/care), these tomatoes actually look, smell and taste very good, for having been purchased in mid-March.

 

Now, I don't know if I'll be able to find them again, and this was the first time I'd ever seen them, but quite a nice treat.

 

Together they weighed at least a pound, and they were $1.99.

Are these branded?  I can't see from the photo...

[heidih]

@weinoo  An actual scent!  Amazing. I generally get odd looks when I'm sniffing tomatoes and melons  - do it anyway

Edited March 16, 2019 by heidih (log)

[ElsieD]

@weinoo  Where are they grown?  Are they greenhouse tomatoes?

[FauxPas]

I think they are Intergrow brand, grown in upstate NY in greenhouses, but maybe @weinoo can confirm. 

 

http://www.intergrowgreenhouses.com/how-we-grow/

 

 

[KennethT]

14 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

I think they are Intergrow brand, grown in upstate NY in greenhouses, but maybe @weinoo can confirm. 

 

http://www.intergrowgreenhouses.com/how-we-grow/

 

 

Indeed, that looks like it.  The obvious question is, why don't they put the stores that sell their products on their website?

[FauxPas]

10 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Indeed, that looks like it.  The obvious question is, why don't they put the stores that sell their products on their website?

 

I took a quick look at their Facebook page and saw mentions of Hannaford, Aldi and Whole Foods but had to read through a few posts to find that information. It is annoying when companies don't provide such basic info though, isn't it? I guess you could always call or email them, but they could be promoting their products better! 

[ElsieD]

I just sent them an e-mail asking why they don't list stores that sell their products on their web site.

[blue_dolphin]

It's possible that in some cases, they are selling to wholesalers rather than direct to stores so they may not have a complete list, though I'm sure more could be done. 

 

In another thread, @Smithy mentioned a Bimbo bakery product, Doraditas, and when I entered my zip code, the website was able to return a list of local stores that had received delivery of that particular product in the last 3 days.  I didn't really want one but I was impressed.

[rotuts]

one trick Ive learned over the years :

 

if the tomatoes have no blemishes ,

 

they can age and improve a bit in a brown paper grocery bag w a few apples in the bag.

 

you wont ever get an increase in aroma

 

but the flavor improves somewhat.

 

if they have blemishes , fungus can rake root in those area.

 

better than nothing ( sometimes ) in the winter in NE.

[Toliver]

On 3/16/2019 at 5:18 AM, weinoo said:

Check this out...

 

 

Found at my local crappy grocery store (Fine Fare, for those who know/care), these tomatoes actually look, smell and taste very good, for having been purchased in mid-March.

 

Now, I don't know if I'll be able to find them again, and this was the first time I'd ever seen them, but quite a nice treat.

 

Together they weighed at least a pound, and they were $1.99.

They look like heirloom tomatoes. My local grocery store will have a special case for their heirloom tomatoes (at a special high price, too! ).

They sell their usual generic every-tomato-looks-the-same kind, as well. But I prefer the heirloom or "ugly" tomatoes. Great find!

[KennethT]

17 minutes ago, Toliver said:

They look like heirloom tomatoes. My local grocery store will have a special case for their heirloom tomatoes (at a special high price, too! ).

They sell their usual generic every-tomato-looks-the-same kind, as well. But I prefer the heirloom or "ugly" tomatoes. Great find!

I would be very surprised if they were heirlooms.  The variety is beefsteak - but within that variety, there are many subtypes - some of which are heirloom, and some are hybrids...  It is very uncommon for heirlooms to be grown in  a greenhouse - the costs are too high, and most heirlooms have a lower yield, and are not as disease resistant.  Most greenhouse tomatoes are bred for the greenhouse - they are less susceptible to mold (due to the greenhouse's typically higher humidity), plus they are typically more tolerant of a high salt environment, which is needed for the hydroponics.

[Toliver]

51 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I would be very surprised if they were heirlooms.  The variety is beefsteak - but within that variety, there are many subtypes - some of which are heirloom, and some are hybrids...  It is very uncommon for heirlooms to be grown in  a greenhouse - the costs are too high, and most heirlooms have a lower yield, and are not as disease resistant.  Most greenhouse tomatoes are bred for the greenhouse - they are less susceptible to mold (due to the greenhouse's typically higher humidity), plus they are typically more tolerant of a high salt environment, which is needed for the hydroponics.

Well, I am judging a book by its proverbial cover. Those tomatoes do not look like any other tomato in my local grocery stores. All I see in my local grocery stores are smooth-skinned red round (tasteless) tomatoes. 

That picture shows tomatoes with "pleats" which are more akin to heirloom tomatoes or tomatoes I can buy at my local farmer's market. They certainly don't look like mass-produced tomatoes which is why I guessed what I did.

[kayb]

I've never seen a Beefsteak tomato with that kind of shape, but who knows? I looked at tomatoes at the grocery today, and saw nothing that looked like this, sadly.

 

Y'all are killing me. The last time I wanted a ripe tomato this badly at this time of year, I was pregnant with my eldest (who will not eat tomatoes to this day, because I ate them three times a day after they finally came in season while I was pregnant with her). 

 

I tend toward Romas or cherry-grape tomatoes when I'm dying for out-of-season fresh tomato taste. Not as good as July, but it'll do in a pinch.

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, Toliver said:

Well, I am judging a book by its proverbial cover. Those tomatoes do not look like any other tomato in my local grocery stores. All I see in my local grocery stores are smooth-skinned red round (tasteless) tomatoes. 

That picture shows tomatoes with "pleats" which are more akin to heirloom tomatoes or tomatoes I can buy at my local farmer's market. They certainly don't look like mass-produced tomatoes which is why I guessed what I did.

I could certainly be wrong.... just because something may be uncommon, doesn't mean impossible!

[ElsieD]

I bought these yesterday at Costco.  I was intrigued by the name so bought a box.  These are sweet, juicy and very, very tomatoey.  If you are a tomato lover and see these offered for sale,  I highly recommend you buy some.

[Shelby]

14 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

I bought these yesterday at Costco.  I was intrigued by the name so bought a box.  These are sweet, juicy and very, very tomatoey.  If you are a tomato lover and see these offered for sale,  I highly recommend you buy some.

Good to know.  Thanks.

 

And, such a timely post.  I bought these the other day at Dillon's

 

 

You all know how picky I am about tomatoes and these are pretty good for store bought.

[KennethT]

26 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

I bought these yesterday at Costco.  I was intrigued by the name so bought a box.  These are sweet, juicy and very, very tomatoey.  If you are a tomato lover and see these offered for sale,  I highly recommend you buy some.

The grower of these is Mucci farms - a large greenhouse grower in Canada.  Over the last several years, there's been great strides in greenhouse cultivation - primarily due to the decreasing cost of LED lighting that is used as supplemental lighting in greenhouses.  Now it can be summer all year long in the greenhouse with much less energy expense and lot less excess heat.  There have also been a lot of advancements in breeding cultivars that grow really well in greenhouses that have more flavor, as well as being more resistant to greenhouse issues like mold and rot.

[rotuts]

are the Mucci greenhouse tomatoes 

 

marketed in USA supermarkets ?

 

Market Basket ?

 

maybe something even at 

 

Trader Joes ?

 

Ill look at both places for cherry style tomatoes , 

 

hoping to see Mucci , or Product of Canada .

 

PS :  ' tomatoes on the vine '  come from there 

 

and I used to get them and age a bit at home

 

paper grocery bag , apple etc.

Edited June 17, 2023 by rotuts (log)

[KennethT]

44 minutes ago, rotuts said:

are the Mucci greenhouse tomatoes 

 

marketed in USA supermarkets ?

 

Market Basket ?

 

maybe something even at 

 

Trader Joes ?

 

Ill look at both places for cherry style tomatoes , 

 

hoping to see Mucci , or Product of Canada .

 

PS :  ' tomatoes on the vine '  come from there 

 

and I used to get them and age a bit at home

 

paper grocery bag , apple etc.

There's lots of greenhouse grown tomatoes available here - I don't know if they're necessarily the Mucci brand - it seems they have quite a few brands under their umbrella.  Campari tomatoes are an example of greenhouse grown tomatoes (I don't know if they're Mucci or another company though)

[AlaMoi]

a lot of the cherry tomato types do well in winter cultivation...

I usually go with Romas in the dead of winter as the 'least worse' of bad choices - sometimes the Campari are decent - but they're iffy.

 

most of the 'on the vine' types here (central PA) are from Canadian greenhouses - I guess the cost of hydro-electric makes it 'doable' - would not work locally....

the yum factor varies tho.

[heidih]

I snack on these all day year round. Firm sweet/tart, taste like a tomato. Roast up or blister nicely for a sauce. I get twitchy when supply in huse is low   https://www.ralphs.com/p/private-selection-petite-cherry-snacking-tom,atoes/0001111091192?fulfillment=PICKUP

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, rotuts said:

are the Mucci greenhouse tomatoes 

 

marketed in USA supermarkets ?

 

I often see Mucci tomatoes at my corner fruit/vegetable guy.

[Raamo]

We're blessed the be 1 hour away from a company that grow tomatoes in big green houses  - so we get high quality tomatoes year round!

 

https://www.bushelboy.com/