Challenging times in Florida apparently claim well-regarded tomato firm
Challenging times in Florida apparently claim well-regarded tomato firm
One of the older and more respected tomato firms in Florida has apparently decided it can no longer overcome the many challenges the industry now faces to bring a product to market.
Taylor & Fulton Inc., based in Palmetto, FL, did not return calls from The Produce News seeking comment, but Jay Taylor, president of the company, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, "We have months ahead of us, but we are preparing to change direction. We're not ready to say yet. It's a little too early."
He added in the Herald-Tribune article that the company would grow tomatoes until March or April, and that will be it. He would not discuss what would happen to the company's other farming operations in Quincy and Immokalee in Florida, and in Mappsville, VA.
"It's a sad day when a company the size, caliber and reputation of Taylor & Fulton gets out of the business," Reggie Brown, manager of the Florida Tomato Committee in Maitland, FL, told The Produce News when asked about the speculation surrounding Taylor & Fulton. "They are leaders in the industry. From a business standpoint, we are very sorry to see them leave, but we respect the fact that people must make their own decisions based on what is right for their personal and professional lives."
Taylor & Fulton is known as one of the "Big Eight," a term used to describe the top Florida tomato producers: West Coast Tomato, Classie Growers, Pacific Tomato, DiMare Farms, Harllee Packing, Woody's of Palmetto and Tomatoes of Ruskin.
Founded in 1953 by Jack Taylor and Pete Fulton, Taylor & Fulton grew into a major tomato-growing operation which employed more than 1,000 employees in its tomato growing, packing and shipping operation at the peak of its existence.
In a prior interview with The Produce News, Tom O'Brien, president of C&D Fruit & Vegetable Co. Inc., headquartered in Bradenton, FL, said, "Taylor & Fulton is our growing partner on Florida's west coast. It has held the reputation as one of the finest quality growers for the past 60 years, and it was also our growing partner for other fresh produce items."
Taylor & Fulton was also C&D's partner in North River Vegetable Co., although the two companies did not share direct ownership.
The situation has highlighted the current state of agricultural affairs for other fresh produce companies. Tony DiMare, vice president of DiMare Farms, which has facilities throughout the United States, was dismayed at the reports.
"Many negative things are currently affecting the Florida tomato industry and other fresh produce categories," Mr. DiMare told The Produce News. "A company the size and scope of Taylor & Fulton pulling out of the tomato business is a sure sign of what is to come. Our industry is in trouble, and it's likely to get much worse in the future."
Mr. DiMare pointed to labor issues, including immigration reform and minimum wage increases, on which there is no cap in Florida. Cost of production, spurred by fuel increases, has risen 30-50 percent in the past five years. A shrinking marketplace, environmental issues, the cost of food- safety initiatives, development pressures and many more issue face growers today.
"Land values are so high in Florida today that a person couldn't make enough in the tomato business in a lifetime to compensate for what he can get from selling his land," Mr. DiMare said. "Moving into the future requires a new generation, or you are forced to get out or sell out. Young people today are aware of the challenges and obstacles, and are choosing other paths. It takes a special category of buyer to purchase a company the size of Taylor & Fulton, but the challenges are too great for smart investors to make."
Mr. DiMare added that although he was unhappy to hear the reports about Taylor & Fulton, he was not surprised. They follow the closing of other Florida producers of numerous sizes in the past few years, including Ruskin Vegetable Cooperative, founded by Paul B. Dickman in 1941, and Mecca Farms, a major Palm Beach County vegetable producer, which sold its property to Palm Beach County for $31,000 an acre, compared to $6,000 an acre the company paid for the land in 1983.
"At least one other major tomato producer I know of is not planting tomatoes this year, and they are cutting back on other products," said Mr. DiMare, who did not elaborate further. "Fuel alone can put a major burden on a producer because everything we use is fuel-based, including the twine used to tie up the tomato plants, the chemicals necessary to ensure a good crop, required equipment and logistics costs. We won't even begin to see the effects of $90- a-barrel fuel prices for another 10 months, but we better be thinking about it today."
Mr. DiMare also mentioned taxes, insurance, environmental expenses and the current drought in the Southeast.
"Every imaginable agency is standing at our doors today," he said. "Just a few years ago, we were accountable to the USDA, but today we must comply with - and pay - an enormous list of agency expenses and fees. We are at the point where it doesn't make sense to invest in our own companies. At the same time, we have food-safety and quality standards to uphold. Since NAFTA, every industry in this country has suffered, and the future holds no sign of possible improvement. In the meantime, we continue to send our natural resources to China, which is not even accountable for the living conditions of its own citizens. It is, however, responsible for the production of inferior and even dangerous products, which it is allowed to ship into the United States."
He added, "If Taylor & Fulton can't make it, who can? It's a sorry state of affairs, and it's one that we can expect to intensify and get much worse in the future."
Taylor & Fulton Inc., based in Palmetto, FL, did not return calls from The Produce News seeking comment, but Jay Taylor, president of the company, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, "We have months ahead of us, but we are preparing to change direction. We're not ready to say yet. It's a little too early."
He added in the Herald-Tribune article that the company would grow tomatoes until March or April, and that will be it. He would not discuss what would happen to the company's other farming operations in Quincy and Immokalee in Florida, and in Mappsville, VA.
"It's a sad day when a company the size, caliber and reputation of Taylor & Fulton gets out of the business," Reggie Brown, manager of the Florida Tomato Committee in Maitland, FL, told The Produce News when asked about the speculation surrounding Taylor & Fulton. "They are leaders in the industry. From a business standpoint, we are very sorry to see them leave, but we respect the fact that people must make their own decisions based on what is right for their personal and professional lives."
Taylor & Fulton is known as one of the "Big Eight," a term used to describe the top Florida tomato producers: West Coast Tomato, Classie Growers, Pacific Tomato, DiMare Farms, Harllee Packing, Woody's of Palmetto and Tomatoes of Ruskin.
Founded in 1953 by Jack Taylor and Pete Fulton, Taylor & Fulton grew into a major tomato-growing operation which employed more than 1,000 employees in its tomato growing, packing and shipping operation at the peak of its existence.
In a prior interview with The Produce News, Tom O'Brien, president of C&D Fruit & Vegetable Co. Inc., headquartered in Bradenton, FL, said, "Taylor & Fulton is our growing partner on Florida's west coast. It has held the reputation as one of the finest quality growers for the past 60 years, and it was also our growing partner for other fresh produce items."
Taylor & Fulton was also C&D's partner in North River Vegetable Co., although the two companies did not share direct ownership.
The situation has highlighted the current state of agricultural affairs for other fresh produce companies. Tony DiMare, vice president of DiMare Farms, which has facilities throughout the United States, was dismayed at the reports.
"Many negative things are currently affecting the Florida tomato industry and other fresh produce categories," Mr. DiMare told The Produce News. "A company the size and scope of Taylor & Fulton pulling out of the tomato business is a sure sign of what is to come. Our industry is in trouble, and it's likely to get much worse in the future."
Mr. DiMare pointed to labor issues, including immigration reform and minimum wage increases, on which there is no cap in Florida. Cost of production, spurred by fuel increases, has risen 30-50 percent in the past five years. A shrinking marketplace, environmental issues, the cost of food- safety initiatives, development pressures and many more issue face growers today.
"Land values are so high in Florida today that a person couldn't make enough in the tomato business in a lifetime to compensate for what he can get from selling his land," Mr. DiMare said. "Moving into the future requires a new generation, or you are forced to get out or sell out. Young people today are aware of the challenges and obstacles, and are choosing other paths. It takes a special category of buyer to purchase a company the size of Taylor & Fulton, but the challenges are too great for smart investors to make."
Mr. DiMare added that although he was unhappy to hear the reports about Taylor & Fulton, he was not surprised. They follow the closing of other Florida producers of numerous sizes in the past few years, including Ruskin Vegetable Cooperative, founded by Paul B. Dickman in 1941, and Mecca Farms, a major Palm Beach County vegetable producer, which sold its property to Palm Beach County for $31,000 an acre, compared to $6,000 an acre the company paid for the land in 1983.
"At least one other major tomato producer I know of is not planting tomatoes this year, and they are cutting back on other products," said Mr. DiMare, who did not elaborate further. "Fuel alone can put a major burden on a producer because everything we use is fuel-based, including the twine used to tie up the tomato plants, the chemicals necessary to ensure a good crop, required equipment and logistics costs. We won't even begin to see the effects of $90- a-barrel fuel prices for another 10 months, but we better be thinking about it today."
Mr. DiMare also mentioned taxes, insurance, environmental expenses and the current drought in the Southeast.
"Every imaginable agency is standing at our doors today," he said. "Just a few years ago, we were accountable to the USDA, but today we must comply with - and pay - an enormous list of agency expenses and fees. We are at the point where it doesn't make sense to invest in our own companies. At the same time, we have food-safety and quality standards to uphold. Since NAFTA, every industry in this country has suffered, and the future holds no sign of possible improvement. In the meantime, we continue to send our natural resources to China, which is not even accountable for the living conditions of its own citizens. It is, however, responsible for the production of inferior and even dangerous products, which it is allowed to ship into the United States."
He added, "If Taylor & Fulton can't make it, who can? It's a sorry state of affairs, and it's one that we can expect to intensify and get much worse in the future."
