USDA moves to allow UglyRipe shipments
USDA moves to allow UglyRipe shipments
A proposed rule change offered June 27 by the Agriculture Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeks to allow UglyRipe tomatoes to be shipped outside Florida.
The rule change is subject to a 60-day comment period, which began June 29.
The UglyRipe tomato, developed over decades with more than $3 million in research funding by Procacci Bros. Sales Corp. in Philadelphia, was previously forbidden for sale outside the Florida winter growing region. The Florida Tomato Committee, a group of competing growers sanctioned by federal law dating to the 1950s, set all size and shape standards for tomatoes entering the U.S. market from mid-October to mid-June. The competing growers claimed the UglyRipe was too misshapen and would damage the reputation of the Florida marketplace.
However, during a three-year window when the FTC offered the UglyRipe a temporary exemption, sales of the tomato skyrocketed. The growers moved to close the exemption, and for the last three years the tomato has been unavailable in the winter season.
"The proposed USDA rule change is a win for consumers," Joseph Procacci, chief executive officer of Procacci Bros. Sales Corp. said in a statement. "Consumers don't buy tomatoes because of how they look, they buy them for how they taste. And when consumers taste UglyRipes, they buy them in record numbers."
Those interested in submitting comments should send them to Docket Clerk, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit & Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Stop 0237, Washington, DC 20250-0237; by fax to 202/720- 8938; or by e-mail to [email protected].
The rule change is subject to a 60-day comment period, which began June 29.
The UglyRipe tomato, developed over decades with more than $3 million in research funding by Procacci Bros. Sales Corp. in Philadelphia, was previously forbidden for sale outside the Florida winter growing region. The Florida Tomato Committee, a group of competing growers sanctioned by federal law dating to the 1950s, set all size and shape standards for tomatoes entering the U.S. market from mid-October to mid-June. The competing growers claimed the UglyRipe was too misshapen and would damage the reputation of the Florida marketplace.
However, during a three-year window when the FTC offered the UglyRipe a temporary exemption, sales of the tomato skyrocketed. The growers moved to close the exemption, and for the last three years the tomato has been unavailable in the winter season.
"The proposed USDA rule change is a win for consumers," Joseph Procacci, chief executive officer of Procacci Bros. Sales Corp. said in a statement. "Consumers don't buy tomatoes because of how they look, they buy them for how they taste. And when consumers taste UglyRipes, they buy them in record numbers."
Those interested in submitting comments should send them to Docket Clerk, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit & Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Stop 0237, Washington, DC 20250-0237; by fax to 202/720- 8938; or by e-mail to [email protected].
