When you do a job for 27 years, you get to be an expert, which seems very much the description of Manny Gerardo, who has been working for Bernardi & Associates Inc. in Nogales, AZ, since the late 1980s.

Commenting on the current tomato marketing conditions, Gerardo quickly switches gears, going from one district to the next and one variety to another. His knowledge clearly reflects the business model of Bernardi & Associates. The firm is a broker-distributor specializing in tomatoes. It sources product all over the country and Mexico for its many customers.

Joe Bernardi and Manny Gerardo of Bernardi & Associates.President Joe Bernardi has long said that the firm maintains offices in a variety of areas so it is not beholding to a particular point of origin or shipper as it sources tomatoes 365 days a year matching its customers’ needs with the particular tomatoes that are available.

On this July day late in the month, Gerardo was in the company’s Nogales office keeping track of vine-ripes, Romas and grape tomatoes in Baja California and San Diego County as well as the mature greens coming from the San Joaquin Valley of California. He was also aware of the many homegrown deals around the country, which very much affect volume at this time of year.

“Each area impacts the next,” Gerardo said.

He noted that even though mature green and vine-ripes are different tomatoes, often used for different purposes, they are interconnected. “You have to look at all the areas where tomatoes are being produced and stay up with the numbers,” he said.

On this particular day, July 26, the mature green prices were inching up, and Gerardo expected increased supplies the following week. While that might signal a drop in the market, orders crossing his desk indicated good demand and he predicted that the market would sustain the current pricing through that week, he said.

He also noted a strong demand in the vine-ripe market, but noted that with August around the corner, homegrown deals will affect supplies and the price. “We always seem to get the dog days of August where the price drops,” he said, indicating that the homegrown deals around the country are the reason for this drop.

Trying to look far into his crystal ball and predict volume months down the road is not to Gerardo’s liking. It is too early to know anything about the Mexican winter deal, he said. But ask him what’s available today and the information comes straight and fast.